Scream For Me
by The Minsk
Summary: It's scary enough that someone is stalking Rachel, but the terror has only just begun.
1. An Unknown Threat

Disclaimer: I neither own Glee nor the characters. They are the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. This is purely for fun. Enjoy! :)

A/N: Welcome to my newest story! This is going to be unlike anything I have ever done before, and I really hope you guys enjoy it.

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><p><strong>Scream For Me<strong>

**Chapter One: An Unknown Threat**

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><p>The weather was perfect as Rachel sat outside eating lunch in the quad with her friends from glee; Finn's arm was wrapped around her shoulders in a warm embrace and she leaned against his broad chest while the soft spring breeze played with her hair. The sun was warm as it shone down on her face, and she popped a cherry tomato from her salad into her mouth with a contented sigh as she watched Kurt and Mercedes bicker over something wholly irrelevant but absolutely funny. It was the perfect day to match her equally bright and sunny mood.<p>

It had been two weeks since Nationals, and even though the team didn't place in the top ten, she couldn't deny that she was happier than she'd ever felt in her life. She had Finn back, she had concrete plans for her future, and she was positive that the glee club would come back next year with enough vigor to dominate Nationals 2012. Summer was right around the corner and the glee club was already planning pool parties and barbecues to make their summer as fun and busy as possible. She knew how important it was for the team to stay connected over long breaks so they didn't lose any of the chemistry that they had worked so hard on developing. She was still petitioning for mini-rehearsals once a week, but the majority of her teammates wanted a summer free of glee club. It was unfathomable to her, but she knew deep down that a pleasant vacation would be good for everyone in the long run.

Especially for her and Finn. She was already trying to make big plans for them to do together for the next two months, and she was kind of glad that nothing was really standing in their way this summer. They had a lot of lost time to make up for, and Rachel fully intended on making this the best summer ever.

Since this was going to be her last summer ever in Lima.

Thinking idly about her future, she pushed her Broadway plans out of her mind as she felt Finn's cheek nuzzle softly against her forehead, snapping her back to reality as the bell rung and signaled the end of lunch. With a loud groan, she gathered her books and got ready for another round of review classes and study sessions, since finals were right around the corner. She squeezed Finn's hand softly as he walked her to her locker so she could drop off her bright pink lunch box before glee. She was stopped in the hallway by Jacob Ben Israel and his cameraman, looking for an interview and pointing a microphone directly in her face. She straightened out her hair with her fingers and smiled as wide as she could as Finn stood patiently at her side, waiting for the interview to be over.

"Rachel, Finn, how does it feel to be the captains of the 12th best show choir in the nation?"

Finn rolled his eyes liberally as Rachel answered brightly. "It's fantastic, and the best part is that we still have another year to break into the top ten."

"Do you honestly think your group of merry mouth breathers can accomplish this? I heard you all showed up in New York without any preparation whatsoever."

She noticed Finn shifting from one foot to the other, which meant that he was getting antsy. Before she could answer, he pulled the microphone away from her face and up to his lips and said, "I'm going to say this once, and I hope this comes out loud and clear. Rachel and I _will _lead the team to a victory next year, you can bet on it. And we _will _be prepared to bring the pain all the way to the east coast." Before Jacob could ask another question, Finn pushed through him and his cameraman with Rachel trailing behind him. She was shocked at his angry behavior as he led her off, and when they arrived at her locker Finn was looking downwards, his eyes not meeting hers at all.

"Finn, what's wrong with you today? That was incredibly rude." He sighed as he slumped against the side of her locker.

"I don't know, I'm just tired of everyone giving us glee kids a hard time when we've really accomplished so much this year. It was bad enough when Jesse was around rubbing our loss in my face, but I don't want everyone in the school thinking we're still losers when we're the 12th best show choir in the whole country. That's got to count for something, right?"

She placed a hand on his cheek softly and watched as his eyes closed in bliss, leaning into her touch while she tried to give him the comfort he needed. She had heard this same argument come from him time and time again since they'd returned from New York, but no amount of consolation brought him solace.

"You _know_ it means something, it means something really important, Finn. We didn't even make it to Nationals last year, and now the group has been to a city that most of these Lima losers have only ever _dreamed_ of." Instead of making him feel better, a sour tone entered his voice as he glared at nothing on the wall.

"Yeah, and you're going to move there forever. Everyone knows it." His detached tone and angry words cut right to the core of her as her heart pulsed with anxiety. It was very rare for Finn to bring up her after-graduation plans, seeing as it was such a sensitive topic for both Finn and Rachel to discuss. Normally he just ignored the fact that she was leaving right after graduation, but seeing as this would be their last summer together she was sure the issue was starting to bother him, and would eventually come up more often in conversation. It bothered her too when she really allowed herself to dwell on the subject, but she was too afraid to address it, too scared to face the inevitable.

"Finn, don't be that way." She turned the dial on her locker to her combo and opened the door, tucking the pink lunch box deep in the back. "You know that we have a whole year together, so try and focus on that instead of what's going to happen after graduation. A year is a very long time." She tried to smile for his benefit, but his own smile didn't really reach his eyes. A small white envelope entered her periphery and caught her attention then; it was taped to the inside of her locker door, right under the picture of her, Sam and Mercedes at prom. Only two people in the entire school knew her locker combination, Finn and Kurt, and she figured that one of her two favorite boys had left her a little present.

"Oh! For me!" She smiled brightly as she took the envelope off of her locker door, and opened it with Finn looking over her shoulder with his brow crinkled. He obviously didn't leave this for her then since he seemed so intrigued, and she ripped open the envelope to see what Kurt had left her as she unfolded the paper.

It was a plain white sheet of stationary, and the only thing on it were letters that were cut out straight from magazine clippings. She thought it was an odd thing for Kurt to leave in her locker, and when she read the message to herself her blood ran cold.

_I'LL BE WATCHING YOU_

A nervous laugh escaped her lips as she took in the message, and she shrugged as she crumpled it up, trying not to take it too seriously. Kurt was obviously trying to get back at her for something by scaring her, and he was doing a damn good job. The goosebumps on her arms were tight and prickly as she tried to shrug off the disconcerting feeling that she was being watched. She looked around her wildly and saw nothing but the normal sea of students, wandering the halls from class to class. Finn was not acting as nonchalant as she was. "Rachel, what the hell was that?"

She shot Finn a frown as she tossed the note in the trash. Finn picked it right back out again and smoothed out the paper, his eyes growing dark as his attitude monumentally shifted. "What the fuck is this shit!" She shushed him loudly for cursing so liberally in the hallways.

"Relax, baby, it's a prank from Kurt. We had that sleepover last week at Mercedes' house, remember? We tried to watch the movie _Scream_? We barely got through the first twenty minutes! He's just trying to spook me for talking him into watching it but it won't work." Finn didn't look like he believed her. She didn't know if she could believe herself either, but the other options that were floating around in her head were just plain unfathomable to her.

"Well, if it is a prank, I don't like it. Come on, it's time for glee. I need to talk to my step-brother." He had a protective arm around Rachel's shoulders as he led her through the halls, and Finn folded up the letter and placed it in his back pocket as Rachel walked with him to the choir room. When they entered, they walked straight up to Kurt with the paper held out, and Rachel watched as Kurt's face melted instantly from a smile to a frown as he took in the contents of the note.

"What is this, may I ask?" He asked coolly.

"This isn't funny, Kurt. Don't leave messages like this in Rachel's locker again. We're bros now and everything, but trying to scare Rachel by playing a prank on her isn't cool."

He looked at the two of them like they were insane. "It's finally happened. Rachel transferred her crazy to you through kisses via saliva. I didn't know insanity was contagious."

"Dude, I'm being serious!"

"I am too, Finn. I didn't make this note, nor did I leave it in Rachel's locker." There was a long and stagnant silence that followed Kurt's statement as the other glee club members stilled and tried to figure out what was going on. Puck grabbed the paper out of Finn's hands and started to pass it around. By the time it got back to Finn, Santana was joking with Quinn in a sing-song voice, "_Rachel's got a stalker."_

"I do not!" To be honest, the thought had crossed her mind, but there was no reason at all for her to have a stalker at this point in her life. She wasn't nearly as famous or beloved to warrant something as creepy, yet flattering as a stalker. "Besides, who would stalk me before I've even been featured in a Broadway production? Maybe off-Broadway but that's pushing it." Only Finn and Kurt knew her locker combination, so who else could it have been?

"It was Jesse." Finn said immediately, his fists closing tightly in his anger. "It had to have been. He's trying to mess with us somehow. You know how pissed he was when we lost Nationals. He's trying to scare us so he could get back at us." Finn was starting to get riled up and she knew she had to end this debacle somehow. She definitely didn't want to talk about it anymore and put more crazy ideas into people's heads. A stalker? No way!

"This is ludicrous!" Rachel screamed as she ripped the paper out of Finn's hands, tearing it up into little pieces and dropping them in the garbage while the others looked on in shock. "This is nothing but a stupid little prank and it doesn't even concern you guys. Just leave it alone and don't mention it again." When she finally finished her outburst, everyone shrugged and went back to their previous conversations as she sat in the back, away from everyone else while Finn sat by her side waiting for Mr. Schue to arrive. He tried to make eye contact with her so they could talk but she refused to comply, turning her head away as she sat through the entire rehearsal completely distracted. The note was still on the forefront of her mind, and as much as she just wanted to forget it altogether, she couldn't help but feel shaken up over it. If this wasn't a prank by one of her friends, then who could it have been? And were they really serious about it?

By the end of glee, the note was barely an issue as she allowed the music from glee club to calm her worried heart. They weren't practicing for competitions anymore, but they still had their weekly assignments and she lost herself in the beauty of Mike and Tina's heartfelt duet, then almost died laughing from a rousing rendition of "_Whole Lotta Love"_ from Puck, complete with gratuitous thrusting in Lauren's direction. Finn almost placed his hands over Rachel's eyes so she couldn't see Puck's gyrations, and her hearty laugh chased all of her previous fears away.

The rest of the day passed by with no incident. Finn had to clean out his gym locker after school so she walked out to the parking lot by herself, hoping to see Sam or Kurt and get a ride home from them instead of Finn. She really didn't feel like walking since the sun was much hotter now that it was later in the afternoon, but as she looked around the parking lot, she saw none of her friends around. Her cell phone started to ring and she picked it up, distracted by her search for familiar faces, and hoping that it was Kurt waiting to give her a ride.

"Hello Rachel." A dark, deep, unfamiliar voice could be heard on the other end of the line, and Rachel stopped right in the middle of the parking lot as the jarring voice penetrated her mind. She could tell immediately that it was a voice manipulated by technology, seeing as she heard a gritty digital rasp at the end of every word.

"Who is this?" She asked, staring around the parking lot, suddenly feeling like she was being watched. "What do you want?"

"What do I want? I want a lot of things, Rachel, my love." His words left her feeling like she'd been kicked in the chest as she started to gasp for air, the previous fear from before returning instantly and intensifying tenfold. "I want us to be together. I want you to stay in Lima where we can be together forever. Didn't you know that we were meant to be?"

If she had been spooked before by the note, then she was borderline terrified as the creepy voice chilled her blood into ice. She had thought that the letter was a prank, but now she wasn't so sure as heavy breathing could be heard on the other end. Could Kurt really be behind a prank that was so sinister and terrible? If it wasn't Kurt, then who was this person on the phone, scaring her to death on purpose? She tried to summon up all the strength she could muster so she could tell this creep to back off.

"Listen here, buddy. I don't know who you think you are, but you can't mess with Rachel Berry. I'm going to go home right this instant and call my father's lawyers and they're going to trace this call and figure out where to find you. Then you'll be sorry you ever tired to mess with me."

The only response she heard was a deep, mocking laughter that sent chills down her spine. "I'll be watching you, my love. See you soon." The connection cut out and she stood in the lot, dazed from fear as the phone call she had just received replayed over and over in her head. She tried to slip her phone back into her bag but her hands were shaking uncontrollably and she fumbled, almost dropping her phone while she tried to steady herself. Something deep down was telling her that the creepy call and the even creepier letter were no coincidence as hot tears filled up her eyes. She ran all the way home without even stopping to catch her breath, and when she got to her house she closed the front door with a slam, collapsing against it while her chest heaved from the exertion.

Everything became clearer once she had regained control of herself and she knew she had to admit the truth.

Apparently there was someone stalking Rachel Berry.

But who could it be?

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><p><strong>Rachel's Final Thoughts: <strong>I am seriously freaking out right now.

Until next time. . ._sings_. . .Don't Stop Reviewing!

Merci mille fois mes amis!


	2. Interrogations

DISCLAIMER: I neither own Glee nor the characters. They are the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. This is purely for fun. Enjoy! :)

A/N: I haven't written a fic that was only in Rachel's perspective in a very long time. I'll miss writing Finn's internal ramblings this time around.

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><p><strong>Chapter Two: Interrogations<strong>

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><p>She had been at the police station for two hours; two long and exhausting hours where all she did was regurgitate every detail of her life to the detectives who were in charge of her case. When her fathers had come home to find their daughter barricaded in her room they had panicked, and Rachel had told them all about the letter she had received after lunch and the phone call she had gotten after school. They were just as terrified as she was and had brought her to the police station immediately.<p>

Now all she wanted to do right now was go home. She had told the police everything they had asked her for. She described all of the boys she had dated and all the friends she had at school. She explained how she'd been previously tortured by the mindless bullying of jocks, but nothing compared to the horror she'd experienced throughout the day. She knew deep down that this wasn't some prank by Azemio or another brain-dead loser trying to fit in.

This was something worse. Something sinister and deadly serious. Her hands were still trembling as she sat in the stainless steel interrogation room, the events of the day still churning around in her head as she looked around the space, trying to distract herself from her own thoughts. There was one door, and a mirror on the wall at the far end of the room. She'd seen enough tv to know that the mirror was actually a one-way soundproof window, and she wondered what the detectives were doing behind there; analyzing her like she was an animal in a cage. When was she going to get some answers? Was she going to get the help she needed?

After what felt like an eternity, the door finally opened and the officer, Detective McNally, stepped inside and shut the door behind him, sitting across from Rachel at the nondescript table. He shot her a grimace that was supposed to be a smile and sighed heavily before speaking.

"Well Ms. Berry, we traced the call from your cell phone. It was made from a public phone, but it wasn't too far from the school. Is there anyone you know who would want to scare you like this in any way?"

"I told you everything about my social life, Detective. I may not be the most popular, or beloved student at McKinely, but I don't think I ever did anything to warrant this kind of attention." She shook her head. "I'm lucky enough to have had my share of admirers for someone as young as I am, but we all ended on amicable terms. The only person I could imagine doing anything like this is Jacob Ben Israel and even that is a bit extreme."

"Well, we've called him in, along with some other suspects that might fit the profile." He looked down at his notepad and read off the names. "First we have Sam Evans."

"Sam? Sam wouldn't hurt a fly!"

"You did go to prom with him though, correct?"

"Well yeah, but we did a double-date thing with my ex-boyfriend Jesse."

"Well, St. James is coming in too. He's got plenty of motive from what we gathered from you. He had the chance to get out of Ohio but he dropped out of college and wound up back at home. Maybe he's jealous of what you've yet to accomplish? Plus, from what I understand, he doesn't really like your boyfriend, Finn Hudson, does he?"

A strange chill crept up her spine. Could Jesse really be capable of doing this? She didn't want to believe it but the motive was eerily accurate. She tried to chase the wicked thoughts out of her head. Jesse was an egotistical perfectionist with a diva streak that rivaled her own, but he was no stalker! "Well, he and Finn might not get along, but I don't really think he would do this to me."

"What about Puckerman?" The detective asked, rolling his eyes at the name.

"I take it you know him?" She asked, hiding a smile. Of course the police would know Noah. "He doesn't have enough brains to come up with a plan like this. Plus, he's a petty thug, not a psycho stalker."

"But you think this Ben Israel kid might be a psycho stalker?"

She chewed her lip, not wanting to think the worst of anyone yet desperate for some answers. "I don't know. I think he's pathetic, but I don't know if he's crazy."

He scribbled some more notes on his pad as she tried her best to answer his questions _again_. "Well, we have some other people coming in as well besides those four, but I want to talk to you about your boyfriend, Finn Hudson."

She froze, still as stone as the question hung in the air.

"Finn?" The detective nodded. "What about Finn?"

"Well, I think we have to address the possibility that it might be him."

She shot out of her chair like a bullet, palms pressed flat on the cold steel table as she stared into the detectives guarded eyes. "Never." She said, her voice as icy as the steel. "Finn would never do this to me."

"Now just calm down, little missy. As of right now he's the prime suspect."

His words did not calm her down at all. "This is ludicrous! You have no proof at all that Finn is involved in any of this; which he's not because he loves me and would never do something so heinous."

The detective addressed her in a calm, even tone. "Tell me, where was Finn when you received the phone call this afternoon?" The question knocked the air right out of her as she slumped back into her seat, her chest feeling like it was suddenly caving in on itself.

"He was cleaning out his gym locker." She answered, her voice strangely hollow as a dangerous thought entered her mind. _No, he would never. . ._

"Does Finn know your locker combination?"

"Yes." Her mouth moved of it's own accord.

"You stated that you were leaving Ohio after graduation next year, something the stalker addressed on the phone. What does Finn think about your future plans?"

"Stop it." Her voice was low, so low she could barely hear herself. The detectives words were poisonous and she could feel the venom burning her from the inside out. No matter what the detective said, she had to believe that Finn would never do this to her. Finn was her boyfriend, her one true love, and if she couldn't trust him then who could she trust? "Finn loves me. He supports me and my decision to move to New York. He knows how much this means to me and would never hold it against me. I know you think you've found an air-tight case against him but you're wrong. Finn has nothing to do with this, I promise you."

"I really hope so, Ms. Berry, but we have to be meticulous and consider all options until we gather enough evidence to arrest and convict somebody. Unfortunately, you ripped up the letter and threw it away along with any forensic evidence we could have gotten off the note. The phone call trace came up empty. We have to resort to old-fashioned profiling until we have more to work with. My partner, Detective Traeger, is going to bring in all the suspects now, and you can watch their interrogations from behind the mirror. You know these people way better than we do, and you can tell us if they're lying about anything important that we should know. After we're done you can go."

"Fine." She said, crossing her arms while the detective's words echoed in her head. She closed her eyes and tried to block out his voice as he led her into the adjacent room, where she could see through the glass into the hard steel room. She wrapped her arms around her midriff, holding herself tightly, afraid she was going to fall apart at any moment. The day was starting to overwhelm her and she wanted it all to be over already.

But she had to stand there and watch as the first of the suspects was called into the room. It was Sam, and she watched, worried as he shuffled in his seat, clearly uncomfortable with his surroundings as the detectives stared him down.

"Now son, can you tell me where you were this afternoon at 3:15?"

"I was at home- well, what I consider to be home nowadays," he said, referring to the hotel room he was living in with his family. "I had to watch my siblings until my parents got back."

"Do you know anyone who would want to scare Rachel, maybe even hurt her?"

"No way. I only moved here this year, but Rachel has been pretty cool. She talks a lot sometimes and she wears a lot of pink but that's not really bad. There _was_ a pink power ranger." He said, matter-of-factly.

"Alright son, that's all we need. You can go." There was no way Sam was capable of such a monstrous act, she thought as he ducked out of the door. The police didn't have enough evidence to keep any of the suspects overnight, so they were just asking simple questions and trying to make the most of the information they received.

Puck was in next. Detective Traeger gave him a high five like they were old buddies.

"Staying out of trouble, I hope?" Puck wiggled his eyebrows.

"You know me, dude. What am I in for now? I promise you, I was just giving her a ride home."

"No, kid, it's about Rachel Berry. Where were you this afternoon at 3:15?"

"I was with my main squeeze, Lauren. She was using me as her punching bag during a sparring practice after school. I have the bruises on my ass to prove it."

"What can you tell me about your relationship with Rachel?"

He scoffed loudly. "What relationship? I macked it on her a few times but never got past first base. That girl's legs are locked up tighter than Fort Knox." Rachel wanted to hide from mortification as hot flames rose to her cheeks. "Is this about the creepy letter she got at school? I think it was Jacob Ben Israel to be honest. Fucking perv has been obsessed with her for a while. Everyone knows it."

"Thank you for your input." The detective said with heavy sarcasm. "Get the hell outta here, Puckerman, and stay out of trouble." Puck flashed them the peace sign as he left the room and they called in the next suspect for questioning. She stifled a gasp when she saw Quinn Fabray breeze into the room.

"Alright, now what am I doing here?" She said, already annoyed as she took her seat.

"Ms. Fabray, what do you know about the letter Rachel received today in school?" The blonde scoffed.

"All I know is that someone out there has terrible taste in women and way too much time on their hands."

"The stalker doesn't necessarily have to be a man," the detective said as Rachel's interest piqued. "She got a phone call after school that used some choice phrases, inferring that this stalker is in love with her. However, the stalker could have said those things to throw us off, so we would focus on male suspects instead of, maybe, a girl who still hasn't gotten over her ex-boyfriend? The same ex-boyfriend that's dating the victim."

Quinn's eyes narrowed. "Just what are you trying to imply?"

"You and Rachel have never been close. She's dating your ex-boyfriend. She's leaving Ohio for greater things. There's reason to be jealous."

Rolling her eyes liberally, Quinn looked almost bored at the interrogation. "I won't lie and say that I don't still have my issues with her, but I have better things to do with my time." She said, picking a cuticle on her nail. "Can I go now? I watch TV, you know. You can't keep me here without proof that I did something."

"Yeah, go on." Rachel bit her lip as time seemed to stretch out forever. Part of her wished she didn't have to watch this; she didn't want to lose faith in the people that she trusted in her life, and she didn't want to be suspicious of her own friends. But she was so damn _scared_; she had no choice but to try and figure this out.

Her breath caught in her throat when Jesse entered the room next. He was followed in by a lawyer, which she realized was perfectly legal but also extremely suspicious. Why would Jesse want a lawyer when all he had to do was answer a few questions?

"Mr. St. James, are you aware that your ex-girlfriend Rachel Berry received both a phone call and a letter of a disturbing nature this afternoon?"

"I wasn't aware of it until you came to my house asking for me to come in for questioning. Thank goodness my father has a live-in lawyer that's always on retainer in case of emergencies like this one."

The detective nodded his head, but Rachel could tell that he was annoyed at the presence of the lawyer. "Where were you at 3:15 this afternoon?" Jesse held up a finger, as if to pause the conversation as the detective looked on in shock. He leaned his head in close to the lawyer as he whispered a few words into his ear, then turned back to the frowning detective.

"I exercise my right not to answer that question."

Rachel was stunned. It felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room as she tried her best to focus on what was unfolding in front of her.

"Can you tell me about your relationship with Ms. Berry?" She watched through the translucent glass as Jesse whispered to his lawyer once more. The bespectacled man in the dark suit adjusted his tie and spoke for Jesse as he sat silently, smirking to himself.

"My client refuses to answer any questions unless there is sufficient evidence to charge him with a crime." The implication of the statement chilled Rachel to the bone as she watched Jesse leave the room in shock. What could he possibly be hiding? Why wouldn't he answer their simple questions? She was filled with a disconcerting sense of paranoia as the interrogations continued once more. Jesse's smug smile was haunting her for reasons she couldn't understand, and for a moment she truly wondered if he was capable of riling her up with a stunt like this. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that Jesse definitely _was_ capable of a stunt like this, and her fists clenched in anger as he became her number one suspect.

Jacob Ben Israel came in next, snapping her out of her dark and depressing thoughts. He already looked like he wanted to wet himself, and the self proclaimed gossip guru of McKinley was practically shaking as the detective started his questions. He had an airtight alibi since he was working on the school newspaper with Sue Sylvester, and she believed him when he said that he was unaware of the threats that she had received.

She was positive that they had gone through all possible suspects as the clock ticked later on into the night, and she secretly hoped they would let her go home now. Unfortunately for her there was still one more person, and her heart dropped into her stomach like a rock when the door opened again and Finn walked into the room.

She almost started to cry on principle alone. Finn looked so lost, so out of place surrounded by the cold, hard gray steel that sucked the warmth out of everything in the room. He fidgeted in his chair as he waited for the questions to start, and she could feel her heart breaking as his eyes glanced over the glass, unaware that she was standing right behind it.

"Finn, you're here tonight so we can talk about Rachel." His posture perked up instantly and his eyes narrowed in confusion.

"Where is she? She hasn't returned any of my calls and I'm worried. Is she here? Can I see her?"

"Whoa kid, slow down." Detective McNally said. "She's here but you can't see her just yet. I need you to tell us where you were this afternoon at 3:15."

"I was in the locker room, cleaning out my gym locker for the end of the year."

"Can anyone stand by your alibi? Was anyone there with you that we can talk to?"

He shook his head and her heart broke for him. This didn't look good at all. "No, not really."

"Finn, Rachel received a phone call this afternoon from her supposed stalker. He talked about being in love with her, and wanting her to stay in Ohio." She watched as Finn's face hardened into stone. "We know about your relationship with Rachel, and her plans for next year. Son, if you're upset about this, we can find you the help you need without anyone else getting hurt. Especially Rachel."

Finn was looking in-between the two detectives and she could tell that he was slowly putting the pieces together. "Do you think I'm the one who's doing this?" He started to breathe deeply, his hands clenching into fists. "I-I would never! I love Rachel! I-," he stuttered, "this is crazy!"

"Love can make people do crazy things, Finn. This is your chance to talk to us before this gets out of hand."

"I haven't done anything wrong. I want to see Rachel." He said, closing himself off from any more questions as her heart started to pound like a jackhammer. If he lost control of his temper then things would only get worse for him. "Where is she? I want to see her."

"Now just calm down, son. . ." Detective McNally put a hand on his shoulder to placate him but he brushed it off.

"I'm not your son!" He yelled, shooting out of his seat while the detectives went on full alert, reaching for their cuffs to restrain Finn. "I want to see Rachel!" Things were getting out of control fast. She needed to see Finn or else he would never calm down.

She started to bang on the soundproof glass and all three heads on the other side turned towards the shaking mirror with various frowns adorning their faces. Detective McNally looked the angriest, and left Detective Traeger in the room with Finn while he came to speak with her.

"What are you doing?" He hissed at her. "You're interfering with a police investigation!"

"No, I'm trying to stop you from arresting my overwhelmed boyfriend who did nothing wrong and just wants to see me!"

"That kid in there might be your stalker." He said with an edge to his voice. "You don't know if you can trust him."

"Yes I do," she said with all the conviction she could muster. "I know it in my heart that I can trust him because I love him and he loves me." The detective rolled his eyes at her and eventually nodded.

"Little girls and their perfect fairytale fantasies," he scoffed. "I hope yours doesn't get you hurt, kid. Come on." He led her back into the room and when Finn spotted her he crossed the span of the room in two long strides as he took her into his arms, holding her as tightly as she could without suffocating. He pressed a long, lingering kiss to her forehead as she tried to bury herself in him, wanting to forget about this whole ordeal and just get some sleep.

"Are you okay?" He asked, his voice rife with worry as she nodded against him, breathing him in and letting his scent soothe her damaged soul. "We're gonna find the lunatic who's doing this, Rachel, I promise." She saw the detectives watch them with eyes narrowed in suspicion as they addressed her.

"You go home and get some sleep. We'll keep in contact with you if we get any more information and you need to call us immediately if anything else happens. Are we clear?"

"Yes, sir."

"Alright," Detective McNally turned around to directly address Finn. "You take good care of her, you hear?"

"Yes sir." His grip around her tightened and she held onto him for dear life.

"If anything happens to her you'll be right back here in a heartbeat, in handcuffs this time." Rachel closed her eyes against the heartbreaking images that flashed in her head. Finn in handcuffs, police sirens; it was all too much for her to bear.

"As long as she's with me, Rachel is safe." He smiled down at her for reassurance, but the panic in her heart did not subside.

She didn't feel safe. She didn't feel safe at all.

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><p><strong>Rachel's Final Thoughts:<strong> What would Jesse need a lawyer for? I don't get it.

Until next time. . ._ sings_. . . Don't Stop _Reviewing_!

Merci mille fois mes amis!


	3. Intruder Alert

DISCLAIMER: I neither own Glee nor the characters. They are the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. This is purely for fun. Enjoy! :)

A/N: I hope you guys realize that her stalker won't stay a stalker for long. It's about to cross into the horror genre, get ready for some action!

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><p><strong>Chapter Three: Intruder Alert<strong>

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><p>His hands were warm on her skin as he slowly crept them under the hem of her shirt, brushing his fingers lazily against her flesh while his tongue traced the insides of her mouth, tasting her, making her whole body flushed and hot. Her breathing sped up when his hands inched higher, and a soft gasp broke apart their kiss as his fingers lazily brushed the thin material of her bra, her eyes snapping open with a start. She looked down into his chestnut depths and the heat inside her grew even more strong as they continued their ministrations, losing themselves in the blissful moment that had taken over them.<p>

She allowed him to continue his touches; feather-light and smooth as silk as the passion built around them. Ever since they had gotten back together, things with Finn had been extremely hot and heavy. He wasn't pushing her to do anything she wasn't comfortable with, but it was hard trying to keep control of her feelings when he elicited such reactions from her. He was making it too difficult to say no, even though she still stood by her decision to stay a virgin for a little while longer. She just wasn't ready yet, even if she was with Finn again. She loved him, but until she was ready to take that dizzying next step she had to be adamant about her boundaries.

Right now, he was treading them with great haste as his grip on her tightened, flipping her over until he towered over her, removing his lips from her mouth and moving them down the expanse of her neck. Her heavy breathing became pants as he nibbled on her collarbone, and the heat in her body started to overwhelm her as his free hand dipped under her skirt, caressing the sensitive skin on her upper thigh. The heat threatened to consumer her and she knew he'd gone too far.

"Finn!" She squealed, sitting up quickly and knocking Finn over, away from her body. She ran a hand over her face and could feel the heat on her cheeks as her breathing slowed down and her pulse ceased its rapid pace. He looked up at her with apologies written on his face already, and his fists were clenched as his own breathing slowed.

"I'm sorry, Rachel." He said, looking away from her. "I'm sorry I keep losing control like that around you, it's just. . .," he let the statement trail off and she couldn't help but feel bad for him. He was a teenage boy after all, and they did have needs. "You make me so crazy, Rach. I love you so much, and I just want you to feel the same way you make me feel." Nodding slowly, she knew that she was asking a lot of him, but she knew in her heart that she wasn't ready.

"How do I make you feel?" She asked shyly, desperately wanting to know the details of his affection for her. It was bad enough knowing he had slept with other girls; part of her wanted to know how she stacked up in comparison.

He looked at her with wonder in his eyes as he searched for the words. "You make me feel like I'm invincible, Rach. Like I can take on the world and win." He crawled up next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her close. "You also make me feel like I could jizz in my pants at any moment, but you've always made me feel that way." Her blush fully encompassed her face as she slapped his arm playfully, scolding him for the dirty talk.

"I'm sorry, Finn. I know it's been hard for you, but I'm still not ready for that yet. I've just been so distracted, you know? I can't even think about sex when I know that there might really be a stalker after me." He stayed silent while she fell deep into her thoughts. As much as she wanted to lose herself in the bliss of her boyfriend and their blossoming love, she couldn't help but still fear the unknown threat that was lurking in the periphery of her life. She hadn't heard from her stalker since that terrifying day two weeks ago, and with the end of school only a week away she didn't know what to expect over the summer vacation. There had been no other notes, no other phone calls, but Rachel wasn't taking any chances as she moved through her life like she was walking on broken glass; waiting for the moment when she would slip and fall on the shards.

The fear followed her around wherever she went; like a dismal cloud that would not dissipate, she found fear in every aspect of her life. Her trust in others had diminished into nothing as everyone became a suspect in her eyes. She still trusted Finn; after all, he was her boyfriend and the man she loved. She had to believe in her heart that he would never hurt her, but the Detectives had planted a cruel seed of doubt in her head that had tangled into weeds of suspicion. However, besides his emotional outburst at the police station that night, Finn had been acting completely normal. Her fear was never too far from her mind though. She wanted to run, she wanted to hide, but part of her just wanted to ignore it completely. It had been a while since the initial threat, maybe it had only been a cruel prank? Maybe she was over-reacting and just needed to relax a little bit.

He kissed the top of her head and she closed her eyes, grateful for the distraction as he stroked her cheek lazily with the pad of his thumb. The simple caress rekindled the dying fire inside of her, and she sported a wicked smirk as her hands started to trail down his chest and towards his lap. She couldn't stay a prude forever; she was ready to start crossing the more intimate boundaries of their relationship, even if she wasn't ready to go all the way.

She looked up into his eyes and they were wide open with shock. "Rach? W-What are you doing?"

Amusement danced in her eyes as she felt an adventurous thrill flow through her. "Just because I'm not ready yet, doesn't mean I can't make you feel good." Her hands were almost over the obvious bulge in his pants and she could almost feel the heat rising off of it as she tugged at his belt, her heart pounding faster than ever.

"Shit." Finn's cell phone started ringing just as she was about to loosen his belt and she sat back with a huff, her momentary confidence gone as he took the call. "It's from Kurt." She had gotten so close! When he hung up the phone, he shot her a contrite look. "I have to go pick him up from a finals review class. He said his car won't start."

A thrill of panic shot through her. She didn't like being alone in her house and her dads wouldn't be home for another hour. "What about me?" She asked, trying to hide her fear.

"You can come with me. Kurt can come back with us, we'll all have dinner together."

She frowned as he moved to put on his shoes. "I have to start cooking dinner or else there will be nothing to eat." She was used to cooking for her dads; she followed a strict diet and they ordered nothing but Chinese food and pizza. "You'll come back right away, right?"

He sensed her unease and pulled her in for a hug that was meant to comfort her. It only filled her with a sense of foreboding that she could not shake off. "Of course, and I'll have company." She walked him downstairs and kissed him goodbye as he went to the front door. His mouth lingered on hers for far too long as the desire to pull him back upstairs to her room turned her cheeks pink and made her light-headed all over again.

"I'll be right back." He said, and she immediately closed the locks and deadbolt after him once he left.

She stood in her house and tried not to think about the fact that she was alone. The last time she was alone the stalker had called her, and he'd filled her with enough fear to socially cripple her since the initial threat. She hadn't left the house without an entourage once and the Bully Whips had been personally assigned to escort her everywhere around the school. Her locker combination had been changed, her cell phone number had been changed and the police were doing daily drive-by's of the house.

She still didn't feel safe.

She retreated into the kitchen, where the double paned patio doors led to the garden veranda where her fathers hosted their yearly barbecues and dinner parties. The in-ground pool was still covered for the end of spring, but she was sure her dads would open it for the summer soon. She made sure the locks were shut tight on those doors too before she took out the ingredients for dinner. She put the beans to the side that she needed to heat up for her vegan burritos, but she took out the beef that Finn and the other men would want with their meal and put it in a skillet to brown. She set the meat on low and set to chopping the onions, trying to keep her mind focused on something, anything except the fact that she was alone.

Then the doorbell rang.

"Damn!" She cursed as the knife slipped out of her hands as the doorbell scared her, and a thin trickle of blood started to drip down her finger as she stuck it in her mouth, panicking about the doorbell and shutting off the heat. The cut tasted like raw onions and the tang of metal, but she was more focused on the fact that she was all alone and that there was apparently someone at the door. Could it be Finn already? The school was close, but not that close.

She walked up to the front door and looked through the peephole onto her front porch.

No one was there.

She went into the living room and looked out of the window facing the front porch.

No one was there.

Her heart was pounding so hard it was making her chest hurt as she walked back into the kitchen, trying to ignore the fear that prickled at her skin. Could she possibly be hearing things? Had the fear consumed her sanity already? She picked up the knife to start cutting the onions again and the ringing of her doorbell elicited a true blood-curdling scream from the depths of her gut.

Someone was out there.

She reached into her skirt pocket for her cell phone, and right as she was about to dial the police, it started to ring in her hands. The number was restricted. She gripped the knife in her hands as a bone-chilling fear seeped into her bones and she picked up the call.

"Hello?" Hot tears filled her eyes as the voice from her nightmares filled her senses once again.

"Knock knock." The cruel voice taunted her.

"Where are you?" She grit through her teeth. "Why are you doing this to me?"

"You thought you could hide forever from me, didn't you? Did you think that because you were being followed by your lap dog and the other mutts you call friends that I wouldn't still keep track of you?"

"Please, just go away." She reached for her house phone while she had her stalker on the line, dialing 911 and trying to keep her voice as even as possible. All calls to 911 were traced, so all she had to do was get an operator on the line and they would send the police over automatically. She could hear a woman's voice on the line and she knew this was her chance. "Stay away from me or else I'm going to call the police." She hung up the house phone, hoping it was enough and not wanting to anger the stalker by giving herself away.

"Oh Rachel, the police would never get here in time." The doorbell rang once more and she started to shake uncontrollably, almost dropping the knife as she hid by the patio doors, the cold panes of glass pressing against her back. "I was lying when I said I wanted us to be together Rachel." The voice said, cold and cruel as the blood drained from her face. "I actually want you dead."

A fear that settled into her very core seized her, and she felt the panes of glass shake behind her as a dull knock could be heard. The cell phone fell from her hand as she slowly turned around, and she had to crane her neck all the way up so she could see her attackers face. Her horror was crippling as she stared up at a figure cloaked completely in black, with a white grinning ghost-face mask staring soullessly down at her.

This was no stalker. This was something else she was never prepared for.

She screamed as she flung herself away from the patio doors, still holding the knife in one hand as the cell phone lay on the floor, forgotten. She could hear the unmistakable sound of glass shattering and the crackle of footsteps as she ran up the stairs, blinded by tears, struck dumb by fear, and feeling more helpless than she had ever felt in her life. She barricaded the door to her bedroom with dressers and held the small kitchen knife in her hands like a sword, but the figure in black was adamant in his pursuit of her, and Rachel knew her barricade would not last long.

She looked to her window, her last means of escape and saw the edge of the garage jutting out to the side of the house. If she could get to the roof of the garage and then shimmy down the side, she could run to her neighbors house and hide there. The banging grew louder and Rachel knew this was her only chance as she stuck her leg out of the window, wincing until she found enough traction to keep her steady. She held onto the windowsill to maintain her balance as she tried to keep her footing, and she made the mistake of looking below her to see how high she really was above her father's beautiful veranda.

A shrill scream of surprise escaped her when she felt the strong hands of her attacker pull on her right forearm, the same forearm that gripped the window's ledge for support. She looked into the void that was the ghost mask and watched as he pulled out a large knife, much larger than the one she'd been using for the onions, and quickly cut at the arm he was grabbing. She let go of the windowsill from shock and a thick trail of blood was forming down the length of her arm as the pain registered, sharp and shallow. The cooking knife from before was being concealed in her left hand, and she and drove the knife into her attackers right arm, making him gasp in pain and release her.

Unfortunately for Rachel, she was no longer holding on to the windowsill and lost her balance, slipping on the loose roofing tiles and falling backwards towards her death. She saw the chilling ghost mask stare down at her while she felt, his eyes empty and void of all emotion.

The air came out of her in a giant whoosh as she landed on the cover of her pool, the filthy green water splashing around her while she tried to breathe in as much air into her shocked lungs as possible. While she was thankful she had landed in the pool and not on the hard concrete masonry, she panicked once she looked up at her window and realized the attacker was no longer there. She kicked against the pool cover, splashing up more filthy water while she made it to the edge and pulled herself out of the muck. She ran for the side of the house, hoping the stalker had simply left her for dead and was no longer after her, when she suddenly ran into a tall broad figure.

The scream ripped from her throat before she could stop it as large hands clamped on her shoulders. She closed her eyes, waiting for death to come. . .

"Rachel? What happened?" She opened her eyes and Finn was standing there, looking at her with shock plain on his features. She looked up at his face and had to crane up her neck as always to look into his worried eyes. She was used to it by now, but a dangerous thought entered her head. _He's just as tall as my attacker was. . ._

She recoiled from him like she was burned, her emotions out-of-control, her body still in escape mode. She was irrational as she backed up from him, and realized that she still had the small kitchen knife in her hands. She held it up and pointed it at Finn, feeling helpless, feeling trapped. "Stay back." She said, her voice dangerous and low.

"Rachel, what's going on? Why are you all wet?" His face grew dark. "Did something happen when I was gone?"

"Where's Kurt?" Her voice was shaking now, almost as much as her hands were. "You said you left to get Kurt, where is he?"

He put up his hands in a placating manner but she wouldn't put down the knife. _This is Finn, _her heart kept telling her, _he would never hurt you!_ But she didn't know anyone who was as tall as Finn was, and he had left her alone and vulnerable while her stalker attacked. She needed to protect herself as the blood that dripped freely from the open wound on her arm reminded her of her torture.

"He wasn't there. He must have gotten a ride with Mercedes or someone, so I came back here." She could hear the roar of police sirens and her fear began to dissipate slowly.

She still wouldn't put the knife down though.

"Just stay away from me, Finn, okay? He was here, he just tried to kill me, and I don't know who I can trust anymore." She could hear a rush of voices and saw Detectives Traeger and McNally run up to her. McNally was older, and more out of shape than his younger partner, so she could hear him wheeze as Traeger pointed his weapon at Finn.

"Put your hands up, Hudson and put the weapon down, Rachel. We're here now." She slowly put the knife down until it fell from her hands, and she collapsed onto her knees as the detectives bent Finn over the hood of a police vehicle, snapping him in handcuffs. She didn't want to believe that Finn would really do this to her, but she was so scared she didn't know what to believe anymore as she gave the detectives her statements and got the slice on her arm cleaned out. Even if he were innocent, the evidence was clearly not stacked in his favor. Before they could put him in the squad car, however, she remembered something integral from her struggle with her attacker. She ran past the cops who were inspecting the house for clues and ran up to a handcuffed Finn, who was staring at her like she had broken his heart all over again. The cops were about to put him in the car when she approached them.

"Wait, I can tell whether or not he did it." She knew that the detectives viewed Finn as their number one suspect, but there had to be a way to clear him. She went up to his right arm and pulled up his sleeve to the shoulder. She ran her fingers over the flawless flesh and sighed in relief. If he were the attacker, then there would be a great bloody gash on his arm where she had stabbed him. She smiled in earnest and turned back to the detectives.

"He didn't do it! I was able to stab my attacker in the arm and Finn has no wound. You have to let him go." The officers shook their head.

"No. We're gonna keep him tonight for some questioning. You never know Rachel, he might not be working alone." The implication brought fear back into her system. The attacker said he wanted to kill her; if he were working with someone else, that meant that _two_ people out there in the world wanted her dead. It was too much to handle as she felt her last tendrils of control snap like rubber bands stretched too thin. She turned to her boyfriend; her beautiful Finn that she loved more than anything, and the look in his eyes cut her deeper than any knife could.

"I'm sorry, baby." She said through her tears. What else could she say?

"Me too, Rach." His rueful smile did not reach his eyes. They put him in the back of the police car and Rachel's heart bled for him. He didn't deserve any of this, but boyfriends were always the number one suspects in scary movies.

Speaking of scary movies, the ghost-face mask of her attacker was still haunting her as the police escorted her to Mercedes' house so she could crash there for the night. Her fathers were staying in a motel until they could get their back door fixed and she was welcomed at Mercedes' house for as long as she needed. Mercedes could do nothing but stare as Rachel made herself at home, taking a shower before returning with an adamant request. "Do you still have the DVD of Scream or did you return it to Netflix already?"

"No I still have it, I waited until my brother got home from his semester so he could watch it too. But why? You thought it was too scary when we tried to watch it with Kurt." She closed her eyes and thought about her day, and the trauma she knew would haunt her nightmares for weeks to come.

"No movie could ever be as scary as what I just experienced. Come on, we have to do some research."

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><p><strong>Rachel's Final Thoughts<strong>: Someone wants to kill me? But what did I do?

Until next time. . . (_sings)_ Don't stop, _reviewing_!

Merci mille fois mes amis!


	4. High School Hell

DISCLAIMER: I neither own Glee nor the characters. They are the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. This is purely for fun. Enjoy!

A/N: If you've never seen _Scream_, I would watch it on Netflix or something. This fic will make a lot more sense.

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><p><strong>Chapter Four: High School Hell<strong>

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><p>"Why are we watching this?" Moaned Mercedes from under her thick blankets. She refused to poke her head out, lest she see the fake corn syrup blood that was currently splattered all over the television screen. "We could barely get through this movie the last time, and now you want to watch it again?"<p>

"It's research, Mercedes." Rachel said, her voice even while the ghostface mask on the screen sent chills racing up her spine. "Besides, this stuff doesn't scare me anymore," she whispered as the actress let out a blood curdling scream. "_It's not real_."

Her mind was racing as she continued to watch the movie, absorbing every moment of it and committing it to memory. She happened to like the main character of the film, Sydney Prescott. She reminded Rachel of herself; young, beautiful, kind, and the victim of a horrific nightmare. Sydney's boyfriend was the main suspect and so was hers, but even now as she pictured Finn in the hands of the detectives, she couldn't help but feel terrible about it. She had checked his right arm before he'd been taken away by the cops; there was no stab-wound on his arm, meaning he couldn't have been the one to attack her. Besides, this psychopath tried to kill her! Finn would never do that!

But as she watched the scene where Sydney's boyfriend pressured her for sex, remembering the events of the afternoon before the stalker had arrived at her house, she couldn't help but see the blatant similarities between her reality and the scenario on the tv screen. It was too coincidental, and it made Rachel's already frayed nerves stand on end.

"Mercedes, do you think Finn could have really done this?" Mercedes peeked over the blankets to make sure she was safe from the blood and gore and removed them from her face so she could talk to her guest. Rachel didn't know how long she would be staying here, but at least she felt safe with Mercedes' parents in the house. Apparently her dad owned a shotgun.

"Rachel, you and I have both known Finn for a long time. Sure, he likes to kick furniture every now and then when he's angry and you two bicker like a married couple, but that boy _loves_ you. Unless he hopped on the train to crazytown, I don't think he's the one the cops are looking for."

"I don't know what to think anymore," she said honestly. "I want to believe that Finn is innocent, but the stalker knows so much about me. My locker combination, my address, my phone number. Who could have gotten these things? And who would want to use it all against me?" She was deep in thought as Mercedes let out a light scream, and Rachel almost jumped clear off of the bed from fear. When she looked up, she realized that Mercedes was still watching the movie and screaming at the TV. Her blood chilled into ice when she watched Sydney being chased around her house in the exact same exact way the stalker had been chasing her earlier that evening.

It was way too similar. All of it. The way they taunted her over the phone, the way they chased her around the house, the way she had climbed out of the window, falling to her safety.

It was exactly the same.

"Mercedes!" The girl just shook her head and refused to come out of her hiding place. She started to throw her pillows at Mercedes until she pulled the blanket away from her face once more. She tried to scream and cover it up again, but Rachel held her face in her hands and forced her to listen. "Stop watching the movie and listen to me! It's a copycat! Whoever is stalking me is copying this movie!"

"Girl, I think you've snapped already." She said as she tried to hide away from the blood on screen.

"No Mercedes, listen! I think that whoever is behind this is mimicking the events of _Scream_ and making me into the Sydney Prescott character. All of these events are too similar to ignore. We have to keep watching."

"Oh _hell to the no_, I'm going to sleep." She said as she turned away from the tv, covering her head with the blankets while Rachel stayed up, enthralled by the events of the movie. "You can stay up and be as crazy as you want to be."

"Fine." Rachel said, but she put on the small desk lamp next to Mercedes' bed so she wouldn't feel completely alone while trying to watch the movie. This was not what she was expecting to do on the last Friday night before summer vacation, but she knew the research would be worth it.

Tomorrow she was going to have to watch_ Scream 2, 3 _and_ 4._

For research of course.

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><p>She walked into McKinely on Monday with Mercedes at her side and every eye in the school was staring directly at her. She could feel the weight of their stares as Mercedes wrapped an arm around her, leading her through the crowd as anxiety prickled at her mind. Her weekend at Mercedes had been so peaceful, but now she was back at school for one more day. It was the last full day of classes, and the rest of the week would be spent on final exams before the summer break. She balanced the box of red velvet cupcakes she had made with Mercedes for the end-of-the-year Glee party that was being held after school. It was the last time she would see Mr. Schue for months, so she was looking forward to it as she walked to the choir room to drop off her food.<p>

A loud crash could be heard somewhere in the hallway and when she turned around to see what the commotion was, she heard a high-pitched squeal as someone in the horrific ghostface costume came running right towards her with his arms flailing in the air. She froze in her place from fear, unable to believe that she would be attacked right in the middle of school as he ran right for her.

All of a sudden, the masked attacker was pushed roughly right into the lockers next to her, and she looked up to see Finn pinning the person against the wall, his face frozen in anger. He ripped the mask off of her attacker to reveal one of Finn's rivals from the hockey team, some jock she had never met.

"You think this is funny you sick son-of-a-bitch?" Finn growled low in his throat as he held up the guy's right arm, pulling up the sleeve. There was no mark there as Finn's eyes glowed in hatred. "I spent the last weekend in jail because the cops think I'm trying to hurt my own girlfriend and you think this is fucking funny?"

"Dude, it was a joke. I'm sorry. . ." he tried to apologize but Finn would not back off as he shook him roughly against the lockers. Rachel just stared on in shock with Mercedes at her side.

"You stay the hell away from Rachel." He turned to the crowd that gathered around them. "_Everyone_ better stay the hell away from her."

"Now, now, what is the meaning of this?" Principal Figgins came out of nowhere and the crowd immediately started to dissipate, leaving just Finn, Rachel, Mercedes, and her fake attacker.

"You sir," he said, pointing at the hockey jock, "come with me. The rest, get to class now. There's already been far too much violence for my tastes over the past week, we don't need it bleeding into the school." Rachel nodded softly and turned to leave with Mercedes, but she could feel Finn's eyes following her down the hall.

"Rachel, wait!" He called after her and she stopped walking, biting her lip as he approached her. She wanted to trust him, so badly, but she didn't know if she could right now. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, Finn. Thanks for asking." Mercedes ducked into the choir room, leaving her alone to talk to her boyfriend. "Did you really spend the whole weekend at the police station?"

He shook his head. "Just one night. They tried to collect evidence from your house so they could charge me with something, but they couldn't find anything so they let me go." He tried to reach out for her, but she pulled back, still unsure of her feelings. He looked wounded as he stepped back. "You still think it's me, don't you?"

"I don't know what to think anymore, Finn." She said honestly. "I love you, I really do love you, but I can't be sure of what I believe right now. I just need a little bit of time. Can you give me that?"

He nodded softly as the bell rang, and she still needed to put her food away for the party. He took the box of cupcakes from her and carried it to class, placing it down with the empanadas that Santana made and the fondue pot that Brittany brought in. She sat quietly with her other gleeks, waiting for Mr. Schue to arrive and for homeroom to start.

"So Rachel, Soul Sister over here tells us that you think your stalker is a _Scream_ copycat." Puck said, grinning like a madman as all eyes focused on her.

"I think my experience holds great similarities to the film, yes." She could feel Finn's eyes burning holes into her back, but she refused to look his way.

"You do realize that the killer in that movie is her boyfriend, right?" Quinn sneered as Rachel blushed scarlet.

"Yes I do, Quinn. However, in _Scream 2 _they had this whole elaborate plot to make it look like the boyfriend was the killer when he truly wasn't." She said, trying to rationalize their logic away while avoiding Finn's eyes at all costs.

"I just don't understand why someone would want to hurt Rachel." Brittany said, her voice the epitome of innocence. "I mean, she can be annoying and stuff, but I don't think there's a real reason to kill her."

"Why thank you, Brittany!" She exclaimed, happy that someone noticed that there was no real motive to hurt her.

"I disagree," Came Puck's sharp reply. "I think there are a lot of reasons why someone would want her dead."

"Watch it, Puck." Finn threatened from his side of the choir room. Puck just shrugged and continued.

"No, if no one wants to say it, I will. Rachel, you kind of suck sometimes."

"Hey!" She exclaimed while the others laughed.

"You got Sandy Reyerson fired last year."

"That was never proven," she said in her defense. "And I will deny it up and down. That was a very hateful rumor." She said, her eyes shifting back and forth because she knew the truth and Puck was right.

"Well, what about the time you sent Sunshine Corazon to a crack house? Was _that_ just a hateful rumor?" She sent a glare filled with hatred in Puck's direction for bringing up such a sensitive topic. She still felt bad for that, months and months after the fact, and tried to shake off the disconcerting feeling that filled her bones.

"I talked to Sunshine at Nationals and we're cool now. There are no hard feelings between us anymore."

"You still did it." Puck said with a hard edge to his voice. "There are reasons to hate you, Rachel. Don't think that you're some kind of perfect little princess."

"Do you have something to say to my girlfriend, Puckerman?" Finn asked, getting up out of his seat and approaching his mohawked friend. He looked up at Finn with a wicked smirk on his face.

"Your girlfriend thinks you're the number one suspect, Finny boy. I wouldn't be so quick to defend her."

"You just leave her alone. She has enough to deal with and she doesn't need you spewing more hate in her direction."

"Alright, alright, I was just answering Britt's question, that's all." Puck put his hands up in surrender and stared Finn down with a smirk on his face. Finn eventually returned to his seat when Mr. Schue was ready to start homeroom, and she spent the rest of the class trying not to look in Finn's direction.

It had killed her when she had watched the end of _Scream_ on Friday night, realizing that the boyfriend had been the killer the whole time. Could Finn truly be capable of hurting her? He was always so protective, so caring, so full of love. . .

But he could also be angry, volatile, and quick to snap. She knew that he was upset about her leaving after graduation next year, but could it really be enough to make him want her dead? Add that to the fact that they weren't having sex yet. . .

She had reason to be suspicious.

However, she refused to remain a victim. She wanted to find out who this person was and didn't want to live the rest of her life in constant fear. She was ready to start fighting back.

As the bell rang to end homeroom, Will clapped his hands enthusiastically as he addressed the glee club. "Alright guys, I'll see you all at 3 o'clock for the party! Have a great last day of classes!" The group cheered as they walked out and she was about to leave before Santana pulled her to the side with a frown marring her pretty face.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" She snapped.

"Um, Chemistry?" Rachel said, momentarily making eye contact with Finn as he left the room.

"No, I mean, where are you going without your escort? The Bully Whips vowed to protect every student in this school from bullying and that includes creepy stalkers like yours."

"Ah, right. Sorry about that, I'm just a little bit distracted today." Santana slipped on her beret and red silk jacket and escorted her out of the room.

"Come on, Berry, Let's go." She called Karofsky on her walkie talkie to make sure her route was clear as they navigated the halls. When they made it to her class, Santana poked her head inside the room to make sure she was safe. "Alright, the coast is clear. You wait right here for me so I can escort you to English. Don't leave without me." Santana turned to leave, but Rachel placed a hand on her arm, holding her in place.

"Why do you even care, Santana? You've never liked me all that much, so why does this even matter to you?" Santana leveled her with a single stern look before answering.

"The truth is Berry, that I kind of really hate you. Everything you do or say makes me want to drop-kick you into the next county." Rachel just stood there blinking and took the verbal beating like a pro. "But now, there's someone out there who's trying to hurt you. Kill you even. The fact that someone out there hates you enough to want you dead. . ." she sighed deeply as she trailed off, ". . .scares the shit out of me."

Rachel nodded. "It scares me too, Santana."

"And I don't want that, despite what people may think. You're actually not that annoying when you try to act normal. Plus we could never win a national title without you, so I don't want you dead."

"Good to know." She said, dryly.

"Just stay here until I come to get you, okay? If you die on my watch, I'll never forgive you."

"Alright Santana, see you later."

She entered the classroom and took her seat in the front, absorbing everything she could from the teacher, as usual. Just because she was being targeted by a stalker, didn't mean her grades had to suffer for it. It was the last day of classes so it was all finals review, and she scribbled down her notes while trying to focus on school and not psychopaths.

About halfway through the class, her teacher got a phone call from the main office. She turned to Rachel and addressed her personally.

"Rachel, Principal Figgins needs to see you in his office. You can take your stuff with you." Rachel nodded as she remembered the events of this morning; the boy in the mask, Finn chewing him out, the principal showing up. Figgins probably just needed to hear her statement, that's all.

She gathered her books and entered the hallways alone. Santana was in class so she couldn't just ask her to escort her to Figgin's office, but the hallways were eerily quiet as her footsteps echoed down the corridor. She approached the office, knocking softly, and noticed that his secretary wasn't there. Should she sit and wait to be called in? She peeked through the windows of his office and the back of his chair was facing her. He was probably waiting for her, seeing as the door was opened, and she entered the room ready to give him her statement.

"Principal Figgins? It's Rachel Berry. You wanted to see me?" The back of his chair was still facing her and there was no answer from the principal. A strange vibe permeated the room and she could feel the chills rolling down her spine as her heart started to race. Something was wrong.

"Principal Figgins?" She reached over towards his chair and pulled it around, only to come face-to-face with the mutilated body of her principal, his lifeless eyes staring up at her while blood poured from the deep gashes in his neck and stomach. He looked like he'd been gutted in his chair. She took a step backwards away from the body, covering her mouth to hold in the screams when she almost tripped. Looking down, she saw the body of the boy from before; the one who had worn the mask to school, dead on the floor, laying in a pool of his own blood.

She screamed then, unable to hold it in anymore as she ran out of the room and away from the two mutilated bodies. She entered the hallway so she could run for help and was met with a chilling sight.

At the far end of the hallway, with a knife that was dripping blood all over the shiny linoleum of the hallway, stood her stalker, the _killer_, staring her down in his white ghostface mask while she froze from fear.

_He's here._ She said to herself. _He's come to finally kill me._

For a split second they stared the other down, until the killer finally darted forward, running right for her with his knife raised and she ran through the halls screaming at the top of her lungs. Unfortunately, Figgins' office was in the administrative hallway, and there were no open classrooms to hide in, only locked offices. She needed to find someone who could help her as she ran straight for the choir room, the closest classroom around this area of the school, while the killer was hot at her heels.

Her heart was pounding as she turned the corners of the halls, desperately trying to find an unlocked door or someone who could help. She saw Mr. Schuester poke his head out of his office in the choir room and she felt the relief wash over her in waves.

"Mr. Schue!" She screamed. "Help me!" Will saw the killer behind her and quickly pulled her in, slamming the door behind her while Rachel ran to close the other choir room doors. Will barricaded himself against the door, and Rachel watched in horror as the killer broke through the small pane of glass, stabbing Will in the shoulder repeatedly to try and get him to move. He screamed in agony, but refused to move an inch, keeping Rachel safe from the threat of the killer. She took a heavy textbook from Will's desk and slammed it on the hand that was stabbing her teacher, smiling in victory as the knife fell out of his grasp. The bell rang overhead as the bloody knife dropped to the floor with a loud clang, and when Rachel looked back up towards the window, the killer was gone.

Will collapsed to the floor, and Rachel pulled off her cardigan and wrapped it around his shoulder like a tourniquet until they could get him to a hospital. She took out her cell phone and immediately called 911 for Mr. Schue. After she hung up, she called Detective McNally, explaining everything that had happened to her that day and the murders that followed.

"My principal is dead, Detective. An innocent student is dead. Mr. Schuester almost died trying to protect me. Who's going to be next?"

"I don't know, Rachel. I really don't know."

* * *

><p>She sat in the choir room for hours after they took Mr. Schue away in the ambulance. The stab wounds were pretty deep, so he would probably have some permanent nerve damage in his arm but he was going to be okay. The police were going over every inch of the school with a fine toothed comb, trying to find any evidence against the killer. They went through attendance records for every student in the school to make sure no one had skipped second period. They cleaned out every locker for any form of evidence. They still found nothing. They had the murder weapon in their custody but the killer had been wearing gloves so there were no prints to be found.<p>

She was still reeling from the shock of discovering the two dead bodies in Principal Figgins' office, and the sight of blood would not leave her as the police worked around her unmoving body. She looked around the room and the food from the party was gone; the other students had taken the party to the hospital to be with Mr. Schue, but she didn't feel like celebrating. Will was in the hospital because of her. He could have died. Figgins died because of her, so did some random kid. Who else would be next? Should she just sacrifice herself to protect her friends and end it all?

"Hey," she heard Finn's soft, loving voice echo around the choir room and she smiled softly as he sat down next to her. The policemen eyed him warily, but let him pass. She had asked the detectives where Finn had been during the attack and his teacher assured them that he was taking a practice exam the entire time. He didn't even leave to use the bathroom. "How you doing?" He asked genuinely.

"I'm okay, seeing as I was just chased around the school by a psychopath who wants me dead." He reached for her hand and this time she didn't pull away from him. She wanted to trust him so badly.

"I wish I could have been there to protect you," he said, holding onto her hand.

"It's better that you weren't there, Finn. If anything happened to you, I would never forgive myself."

He was hesitant in asking his next question. "Do you still think I did it?"

"I'm not sure." She said honestly. His head drooped in despair but she squeezed the hand she was holding. "But I do think someone is trying really hard to make it look like you did it. It's my _Scream 2_ theory." He nodded his head, deep in thought.

"So what do we do now?" He asked, shrugging his shoulders. "It's summer vacation, the killer could strike at any time."

"We fight back, and we _stick together_." Rachel said, holding onto Finn's hand for dear life. "Because right now, our lives depend on it."

* * *

><p><strong>Rachel's Final Thoughts:<strong> So long, Principal Figgins. You were always a bit clueless, but fair.

Until Next Time, _sings_, Don't stop. . ._reviewing!_

Merci mille fois, mes amis!


	5. Bloody Barbecue

DISCLAIMER: I neither own Glee nor the characters. They are the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. This is purely for fun. Enjoy!

A/N: I wanted to write this before I went on vacation for the Fourth of July. Have a happy one!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Five: Bloody Barbecue<strong>

* * *

><p>In the wake of the fatal attacks that had taken place at McKinley high school on the last day of classes, Lima, Ohio was basically at a stand still as news of the killer spread through the county like wildfire. The small, rural community was shocked at the bloody massacre that had taken place and the threat that lied behind the attacks. Rachel might have feared her safety before, but now that blood had been spilled her horror had reached new heights. There was no solace for her anymore; she was still at Mercedes house which constantly reminded her of the threat that surrounded her, and even in her sleep the nightmares of her attacks haunted her and brought her no peace. There was no escape from the fear and doubt, even though it had been over a week without a single word from her stalker. Her mind was in constant replay of past events while she tried to figure out a motive behind the attacks. Nothing made sense to her as the days passed by <em>very<em> slowly.

This was sure to be the summer from hell and it was barely Independence Day yet.

The national holiday was the reason she was at the mall on a Saturday instead of tucked inside the safety of Mercedes' house. Brittany was having a party by invitation only, so the only people who knew about it were people who had been invited personally. Mercedes searched for a new swimsuit while Rachel adjusted her giant sunglasses, trying to shield her face away from anyone who might see her.

"Will you just relax? It's been over a week and we're in the middle of a crowded mall. Nothing bad is going to happen."

"Yeah, well I thought I was also safe inside of school, but we both know how that turned out." Rachel said with heavy sarcasm.

"Listen, I promise I'll be super fast with the fittings and we'll be back at my house in no time. Okay?" She wrapped an arm around Rachel's shoulder and gave it a squeeze until the tiny brunette couldn't help but smile. "Pretty please?"

"Fine. But you're buying me an Auntie Ann's pretzel before we leave."

"Deal." They shared a smile and headed down the large ornate corridors of the mall. "So how are things with Finn? I heard you talking to him last night on the phone."

Rachel sighed heavily as she gathered her thoughts about Finn. She wished things weren't so complicated. "Things are better, I guess. I know in my heart that he would never be capable of killing anyone and now I just feel terrible that I suspected him in the first place. I mean, the detectives still think he's a prime suspect but I definitely don't anymore. I have to find some way to prove to Finn that I trust him and love him just as much as I did before any of this stuff happened."

"I'm sure you'll find a way, Rachel. You two really need each other right now. We _all_ need to stick together."

The two ladies headed into Macy's so Mercedes could find a swimsuit and Rachel lost herself in the momentary bliss of shopping. For about a half an hour, she didn't have to worry about stalkers or killers or dead bodies as she scoured the racks with Mercedes, trying to find the perfect bathing suit.

"Alright, I'm going to go and try this on. You stay right here." A wave of panic hit her momentarily but she sucked it up and knew she had to tough it out. Mercedes couldn't hold her hand for the rest of her life, and so far she felt pretty safe in the busy mall.

"Sure, I'll be over here by the scarves."

"Okay, don't move. I'll be right back."

She couldn't help it as she flung herself at her friend. "No! Mercedes, don't ever say that! People never come back in scary movies when they say 'I'll be right back'! It's like, a rule!"

Mercedes looked at her like she was a woman possessed. "Rachel, this is not a scary movie. This is the swimsuit section of a Macy's in Lima, Ohio. I'll be on the other side of this wall trying on this bathing suit and I will be right back." Mercedes turned away from her and went into the changing rooms while Rachel felt incredibly foolish. She really needed to stop watching so many scary movies.

She went to the racks of scarves and looked through them, trying to find something light and summery she could accessorize with when she suddenly felt like someone was watching her. It sent an unsettling chill down her spine and put all of her senses on high alert as she started to look around the department store, looking for the trademark ghostface mask of her nightmares. She didn't see anything amiss, but she also didn't feel totally safe as a deep voice could be heard behind her.

"Hello Rachel."

"Ahh!" She screamed as she whirled around and immediately started to swing her fists wildly at the dark figure behind her, the adrenaline coursing through her so powerfully that her vision was starting to blur. When she finally focused her eyes and stopped shrieking, she realized that the broad chest she was punching was not the psycho killer of her nightmares.

It was the ex-boyfriend of her nightmares.

"Well, aren't you feisty today?" Jesse smirked as he took in her flushed face and she took deep breaths to try and calm herself down. Then she promptly slapped him in the arm.

"Don't you ever do that to me again! Do you know how terrified I just was?"

He laughed brightly as her heart continued to race. The instant shot of adrenaline was making her hands shake and she gripped the bright summer scarf in her hands to steady herself as her breathing evened out. "You should have expected to see me in the scarves section, Rachel." He smirked as he addressed her shaking frame. "I take it your stalker is still after you?" He said with an air of nonchalance that annoyed Rachel. Her face hardened into stone as she addressed him.

"This is not funny, Jesse! You don't want to mess with me right now!"

"Aww, poor Rachel. Can't take the attention? I thought you would be the kind of girl who appreciates a good stalker." His blithe attitude was making her very angry, and she remembered the night he had showed up to the police station with a lawyer and no statement. Something was off about all of this.

"Oh girl, you will not believe how hot I am gonna look at Brittany's party tomorrow! It's gonna be off the. . .," Mercedes trailed off when she exited the dressing room and saw Jesse at Rachel's side. ". . . hook." Rachel rubbed her temples as the secret of the party was leaked to a very unwanted guest. Jesse raised an eyebrow in shock as a wide grin emerged on his face. Rachel got a sick feeling in her stomach as Mercedes mouthed "Sorry."

"Ah, so there's going to be a party tomorrow? Can I come?" He asked, grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

"No, you most definitely _cannot_ come. It's by invitation only and you're not invited."

"Rachel, darling, you wound me. Why can't I come?" He said with his lips turned out in a pout. Her already thin patience was almost at it's breaking point.

"Because Jesse, you can't. Now please leave us alone and don't tell anyone about the party." She grabbed Mercedes arm and was about to leave for the register but Jesse wasn't finished.

"Why not? Afraid your stalker might show up?" He called out loudly and many heads in the department store turned and looked directly at her. Her face burning from embarrassment, she walked up to Jesse and sneered at him while checking to see if anyone could eavesdrop on them.

"Yes, Jesse, I am afraid that the stalker might show up. I'm afraid he'll show up and try to kill my friends, and my boyfriend, and my other classmates. I'm afraid he'll kill me like he killed Principal Figgins. There are reasons to be afraid, Jesse."

His features shifted from arrogance to confusion as he processed her words. "Someone is dead?"

"_Two_ people are dead. And Mr. Schue is in the hospital. He's come after me twice already."

"No," he said, shaking his head. "I had no idea. . . ." He backed away from her, his face still frozen in shock and Rachel was distracted by his odd behavior. "I'm sorry, I have to go." Without even saying goodbye to her, Jesse ran off and Rachel and Mercedes looked at each other with matching expressions of confusion on their faces. That was definitely not normal behavior for Jesse, but Rachel could still feel the stares of the patrons around her, and she wanted to get back to the safety of Mercedes' house and call Finn.

"Come on, let's pay for your bathing suit before I change my mind about this party completely." She sighed as they got on line to pay. "I have a bad feeling about it already."

* * *

><p>"Let's party! Whoooooo!" Santana screamed from the back porch as the tiki torches were lit and the party started to gain momentum. Rachel was nursing her ginger ale as she got a momentary flashback to the time Brittany had puked on her during the teen drinking assembly. Being drunk was somewhat fun but definitely not worth it in the long run as her stomach churned from the memory. She sipped her beverage and watched Puck push Mike into the pool while Santana and Brittany sang karaoke on the porch. There weren't a lot of people there and there were only a few people outside of glee club that she recognized. Random Cheerios and jocks filtered in and out of the party, but she could feel their stares from all the way across the yard.<p>

And Brittany had a pretty big backyard.

"This party is fucking lame, dude." She could hear some guys' conversation from her little bench by the gardens as they downed beers right across from where she was sitting.

"Yeah, I heard no one showed up because of that chick. The one who's gonna get killed. They're too pussy to show up 'cause she's here." She recognized Azemio fist-bumping another football player and she sipped her ginger ale and tried to ignore them.

"Too bad, they might miss one hell of a show. That's the only reason I showed up. We might see some blood tonight, boys!" Rachel couldn't take it anymore as the guys laughed at their horrifically insensitive joke and she walked through the crowd of people desperate to find a familiar face. She noticed Finn by the barbecue, grabbing a hot dog and putting liberal amounts of mustard on it. She smiled when he took a huge bite and got it all over his face.

"Messy eater." She said softly, grabbing his attention as he shoved the other half of the hot dog in his mouth in one bite. His goofy, mustard-covered smile instantly cheered her up from the conversation she had overheard moments ago. He grabbed her hand in his large warm one, his fingertips caressing her skin.

"Hey." He said after he was finally done chewing and wiping off his face. "How are you?"

"I'm okay, I guess. I'm a little nervous to be around so many people. The detectives are on standby though and they're making passes around the block every hour, but I'm still a little worried."

"It'll be okay, Rach. I'm right here." He pulled her into his arms and her body just melted into his as she found comfort in his embrace.

"I'm glad." She pulled away from him and hesitantly looked into his eyes. Staring into his chestnut depths she saw only love and trust shining back at her. "Thank you, Finn."

"For what?"

She shrugged as she tried to put her feelings into words. "For trusting me. For wanting to protect me even when I didn't believe you. I'm so sorry you had to go through so much with the police."

"Hey, I don't want you worrying about any of that. It's the past. It doesn't matter anymore." He held her tightly as he dipped his head to place a kiss on her lips that left her feeling weightless in his arms. She didn't want the moment to end as the party raged on around them.

The party continued into the late hours of the night. Rachel had fun with her friends, the majority of whom were drunk but nobody was out of control. She was happy that she made it through the night without getting puked on and everyone was having a good time.

There was one little incident, though.

"So, what's your favorite scary movie?" The jocks from before had approached Rachel and the other glee kids, who were busy watching Lauren beat all the guys in arm wrestling. Rachel glared at them with disdain as the other glee kids crowded around her in solidarity.

"Fuck off, Azemio. It's not funny." Santana snapped.

"Have you guys ever learned the rules of a scary movie? You might need to know them for future reference." One jock asked while Rachel made eye contact with Mercedes. She sighed as Finn held her close to his side. "First rule, never have sex. Finn, Rachel, you better keep it in your pants or else you'll definitely be next. From what I heard about Rachel though, that shouldn't be a problem." The jocks howled with laughter as Finn shot off of his seat and got in the other jocks faces while Rachel squirmed uncomfortably. She needed some space as she retreated into Brittany's house for a refill of her ginger ale.

People had already started leaving for the night as she made her way inside and away from the cruel jocks. She was planning on crashing at Brittany's with the other glee girls so there was no rush to go home as the crowd slowly started to dissipate. She entered the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door, grabbing the bright green bottle and refilling her cup. When she closed the door, however, she came face-to-face with a very inebriated Azemio, who was staring at her with hazy, unfocused eyes as she jumped slightly from the shock.

"Can I help you?" She asked, startled.

"So, whud'ya do?" His speech was heavily slurred and she could barely make out the words.

"Excuse me?" She asked, feeling goosebumps rise up her arms. No one else was inside the house as the party died down outside.

"Well, the killuh wants you dead for uh reason." He said, swaying dangerously. "I wanna know what it is."

"You and me both," she said. She tried to push past him but he stood directly in her path.

"You been fucking around, Berry?" His voice was low and gritty as the stink of alcohol clung to his breath. He touched the bottom hem of her bathing suit cover and it made her skin crawl. She slapped his hand away but she was trapped against the fridge. "You flash those tiny skirts you wear in front of the wrong guy or sumptin'?"

She was about to either scream for Finn or slap him in the face, but he suddenly made a harsh grunting sound that startled her as his body started to jerk violently. He looked down at her with wide eyes and when he opened his mouth to speak, blood started to drip out of his mouth in waves of deep crimson as his massive frame continued to shake uncontrollably. His body fell to the floor with one more guttural grunt and when she looked up, she saw the bloody knife from her nightmares reflecting the fear in her eyes right back at her. She looked up into the soulless mask of the killer and the adrenaline rushed through her in waves.

"Stay away from me!" She screamed as she plowed right into her attacker, pushing past him so quickly he couldn't respond as he stabbed wildly after her, caught totally off guard. The killer hit nothing but air as she ran towards the door to the back porch but he managed to sprint forward and grab her arm, twisting it back as he raised his knife high in the air. She lifted her foot and slammed it down on his toes, making the killer grunt in pain and hesitate. She pushed away from him and bolted for the door but he lunged after her and grabbed her by the shoulders, throwing her down on the floor. He towered over her as he raised the knife, and she landed a hard kick right to his knee cap, making him howl in pain and giving her the opportunity to get back on her feet. Fresh air hit her face as she took a deep breath and let loose.

"He's here! Everybody run!" She screamed, and everyone looked in her direction just in time to see the ghostface killer emerge from the kitchen with the bloody knife still in his hand. Spotting the other teenagers, the killer ran immediately for the trees that bordered Brittany's backyard, disappearing into the blackness of the night.

"I can't believe this shit! This bitch is cursed!" The other jocks from before all screamed like prepubescent girls as they ran for their cars, and she immediately called the detectives, who shouldn't have been too far away on their patrol. Finn ran to her immediately and gathered her in his arms. He was still soaking wet from his time in the pool but it didn't matter to her as she tried to calm her pounding heart. Azemio was now dead, the killer was still after her, and he was keeping good track of her despite her best efforts to evade him.

She should really learn how to trust her instincts.

"My parents are gonna kill me when they find out someone got killed in their house," Brittany moaned as Santana hugged her, trying to reassure her everything would be okay as the police arrived in groups. They took Azemio's body out of the house in a bodybag and Sam threw up all of his beer into the Pierce's azalea bushes. A team of police went immediately into the woods around Brittany's house to search for the killer while another looked for more clues in Brittany's house. All the glee club kids, the only ones who didn't run for their lives, all sat in Brittany's backyard in shock as the night dragged on. Rachel molded herself to Finn's side and refused to move an inch.

"We got him! Detective, we got him!" She could hear the police calling to the detectives from the tress and she could see the shadows of the men coming closer. She stood up quickly, so she could face the monster who was so hell-bent on torturing her. She wanted to look into his eyes and ask him why he wanted her dead so badly.

The police all gathered around them and waited for the shadows to emerge from the trees. Dragging along behind them in a tight pair of handcuffs was Jacob Ben Israel, being practically dragged while tear tracks stained his face. She stared blatantly at the squirming teenager and couldn't believe her eyes. Was Jacob actually capable of doing something so horrible?

"Jacob?" She said incredulously while the other glee club members looked on in shock.

"We found him in the woods. He had a digital camera on him. It was filled with nothing but pictures of you." The policeman handed her the camera and she could barely believe her eyes at what she was seeing. There were pictures of her in class, of her at glee club. There were pictures of her and Finn kissing and even pictures of her and Mercedes from the mall yesterday.

"Jacob, how could you?" She whispered, too shocked to speak up. "How could you do this to me? To Principal Figgins? To Azemio?"

"Rachel, you gotta believe me, It wasn't me! I couldn't even flush my dead goldfish down the toilet. I dry heave when I get paper cuts. I'm being framed!"

"All right, that's enough." Detective Traeger said, his voice firm and full of authority. "You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. . ." The Detective read Jacob his Miranda rights as Rachel watched him get put in the back of the squad car.

"Rachel, please believe me!" She looked away from him as the car door closed and something in her gut didn't feel right as he was being taken away. It was a disconcerting feeling she couldn't shake off as police sirens filled the night air once more. Sure, Jacob was creepy, and he possessed many stalker-like tendencies, but could he really be a serial killer? How did he find out about the party? Why was he taking pictures of her and following her? It didn't make sense.

Nothing made sense anymore.

* * *

><p><strong>Rachel's Final Thought's:<strong> Well, at least Jesse didn't show up.

Until next time, sings, Don't Stop. . .Reviewing!

Merci mille fois, mes amis!


	6. Trust Issues

DISCLAIMER: I neither own Glee nor the characters. They are the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. This is purely for fun. Enjoy!

A/N: Only a few more chapters to go! Sorry this one took so long, I hope it was worth the wait!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Six: Trust Issues<br>**

* * *

><p>Staring blankly at the police car that inched slowly down Brittany's block, Rachel gaped after it with a disconcerting feeling in her chest as the frizzy jew fro of Jacob Ben Israel drove out of sight. The cops were still searching the area for information, but now that the police had taken everyone's statement, the majority of them were free to go.<p>

No one moved. Everyone was too frightened to leave the other's company and emotions were running wild throughout the glee club. Rachel stayed glued to Finn's side as the rest of the policemen exited Brittany's house and stared to leave one car at a time.

Detective McNally approached the group, his chubby fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. "I'm on my way to the DA's office right now to pick up a search warrant for Jacob's house. We should know in a few hours if there's any evidence there to link him to the murders. If not, it might be a bit hard to charge him."

She could feel the eyes of her friends on her back as she addressed the detective with an awful ache in her gut. Nothing about this seemed right. "Detective, what if it wasn't Jacob?" She could hear murmurs of disbelief behind her but she chose to ignore it and look directly into the detective's eyes. "I've known him for a long time and he just doesn't seem like a killer to me."

"Rachel, you can't always trust the people who are closest to you. Jacob was found in the perimeter of the house with a camera filled with pictures of you. If that doesn't sound suspicious, then I don't know what does." Detective McNally looked at the other glee club members and addressed them in their varying stages of disarray. "You all stay close to one another, you hear me? Don't let anyone out of your sight until the morning when we can get this all settled. I'll have a patrol car stationed outside of the house all night long."

Everyone nodded their head as they started to retreat into Brittany's house, too scared to go home. Even though Azemio had just been killed, it was better that they were all being protected by the police in case anyone came back. All the doors were bolted shut as the rest of the cops left, leaving two patrolling in their squad car as the clock ticked past midnight. It was a good thing her dad's were away for the holiday weekend or else they would be really upset. She was supposed to move back home this week now that her back door was fixed and her locks were changed. She missed her dads. She missed her bed. She missed feeling safe and secure in her own home.

She closed the door behind her as they all entered Brittany's house and as soon as the lock was closed into place she let out a sigh of relief. She would be safe here with her friends for the night, and they would deal with Jacob tomorrow. When she turned around to face her friends, however, she was met with 12 matching stares of disbelief.

"What is it?" She asked, feeling vulnerable and exposed.

"You're honestly going to stand there and say it's not Jacob?" Santana sneered. "He was in the fucking bushes, Rachel, with pictures of you and you still don't think it's him?"

She twisted her hands together in anxiety. "Guys, you know this kid just as well as I do. He might be creepy, but do you honestly think he's capable of killing people?"

"Yes, actually I do." Kurt said, as he stepped forward with his arms crossed. "I'm willing to believe anything these days and he definitely fits the profile." Blaine nodded in agreement to Kurt's left as Rachel turned to Finn in desperation.

"Finn, do you think it could have been Jacob?" He placed his warm hands on her shoulders and squeezed, shooting her the most reassuring smile he could muster.

"I think that we should let the police do their job, Rachel. They'll be able to figure out whether or not it was Jacob, and then we'll all know for sure. We can't rule out any possibilities."

She shook her head solemnly. "I just don't think it was him."

"So who'd you think it was, one of us?" Quinn asked, her voice filled with disdain. She turned around towards the other members of the club and shrugged her shoulders. "You honestly think one of us is trying to kill you, don't you?"

"I never said that. . ." Rachel said, but it was lost in the explosion following Quinn's rant.

"I was in the pool with Blaine the whole time." Kurt said, voicing his alibi.

"Me and Mike were taking care of the burgers by the grill." Sam added.

"I was making out with Santana in the gazebo." All eyes turned to Brittany while Santana face-palmed.

"Guys, guys! It's not like that! I mean, in the beginning I thought it could have been one of you, but no one here is capable of killing anyone, I know that."

"So who snitched?" Lauren, who had been very quiet throughout the night, was suddenly voicing her opinions out loud. "Someone showed up to this party tonight uninvited, which means that someone leaked about the party. Who was it?" All eyes were probing around the room for answers and Rachel could feel the tension thicken in the air. If they were just going to spend the night pointing fingers and blaming one another then it was going to turn into a disaster. She needed everyone's trust so the group could stay in tact.

"It was me." She said with her hand raised. Mercedes shook her head and stepped forward as well.

"It was _us_." Mercedes nodded at Rachel and she knew that at least someone was on her side. "We ran into Jesse at the mall yesterday and I let slip that there was a party going on here tonight."

"You can't be serious?" Finn asked with great disbelief. They nodded their heads as the rest of the group groaned.

"Did you mention that to the police?" Tina asked, and Rachel suddenly felt very foolish.

"No. I forgot. It didn't seem important at the time since he didn't show up."

"Or maybe he _did_ show up under a ghost-face mask and black cloak!" Quinn screeched. "It's a wonder how you're not dead yet!"

"Jesse might be a jerk sometimes, but I don't think he would be capable of killing anyone. I feel the same way about Jacob _and_ all of you guys. We might have our differences sometimes, but who would seriously want me dead?"

"Rachel, you have to stop trusting everyone so much! It's going to get you killed." Finn said, exasperated as he reached out for her hand. She backed away, feeling offended by his statement.

"If I weren't so trusting Finn, I wouldn't even be here with you. You're still a suspect too, remember?" She knew that she had hit a nerve as he winced, but she was feeling very unapologetic at the moment.

"I would never hurt you." He said, his voice low as the truth of it prickled at her skin. She could feel every eye in the room on her and she needed to get away from their judgmental stares. The night was catching up with her as fatigue washed over her in waves.

"I'm going to bed. Brittany, can I take the spare room upstairs?"

"Sure, but watch out for Lord Tubbington, he gets very possessive of his bedroom." The room was silent for a moment as Rachel said "Goodnight" and retreated upstairs. She closed the bedroom door behind her and immediately started to cry; memories of Azemio's attack flashed before her eyes and she could still remember the sickening way his body twitched before it slumped to the ground. The ghost face mask was the last memory that flashed before her cell phone rang. She saw it was from the detectives and answered it with shaky hands.

"Hello?"

"Rachel, this is Detective Traeger. I have some news for you regarding Jacob Ben Israel." There was a slight pause as Rachel's pulse spiked. "He's the one we've been looking for, Ms. Berry. We have enough evidence to charge him with stalking and we're going to find the evidence to attach him to the homicides."

"You mean, it was really Jacob?" She could barely believe it.

"In his room we found endless pictures and videos of you and your other friends from the glee club. He's already admitted that the evidence belongs to him and we're keeping him until his arraignment for stalking."

"What about the murders?"

"We don't have the evidence to link him to the murders yet, but we will. It's only a matter of time." He paused and the only sound she could hear was the pounding of her own heart. "You can relax now, Rachel. You're safe. You can move back home now and stop living in fear. We'll stay in touch."

"Thank you, detective." She hung up the phone and her head felt like giant bells were ringing inside of it as she processed all the information she had just received.

She was safe. She was finally safe again, and no one was going to come and try to kill her. It was disconcerting to know that Jacob had really committed those crimes, but he was now safe behind bars and locked far away from her. She was about to get dressed for bed until she heard a knock at the door.

"Who is it?" She called out, and was elated when her boyfriend's voice answered her question.

"It's me, Finn. Can we talk?" The guilt from their argument before hit her like a mack truck as she answered the door, and she looked up into his pouting face with a similar look on her own.

"Sure, come on in." She closed the door behind her and before he could speak she ran forward into his arms, holding him as tightly as possible as the relief burst out of her every pore. She caught him off guard as he lost his balance and the two of them landed on the bed.

"Whoa, Rachel, what's going on? I came here to apologize to you. . . ." She silenced him with a kiss and could barely contain her excitement.

"The detectives called me, Finn. They found enough evidence at Jacob's house to charge him with stalking. They think they solved the case." She smiled, and his eyes looked like they were about to fall out of his face from shock.

"Are you serious?" He asked, incredulous. "But I thought you just said he was innocent?"

"I thought he was innocent, but I guess I was wrong. Looks like Jacob is just as creepy as I always thought he was." It still didn't make perfect sense that Jacob would turn out to be a homicidal maniac, but as long as she was safe she wasn't going to over-think it.

"We have to tell everyone!" Finn started to lift himself off of the bed, but she grabbed him by the collar of his polo shirt and pulled him back down to her.

"That can totally wait until tomorrow, Finn." She said with a smile. "I want you to stay here with me." His eyes grew to the size of tea saucers as he understood the implication.

"You're joking, right?" He said, leaning back against the pillows. "You couldn't possibly mean what I think you mean. . ." he left his statement hanging and she winked playfully at him, feeling like a woman possessed. Under normal circumstances, she would never invite Finn to spend the night with her. However, now that she didn't have to live with the burden of a serial killer after her, she could afford to loosen up a bit. Now that she had her life back she was going to live it to the fullest with no regrets.

She started to unbutton her shirt and watched as Finn's body became a statue on the bed, as still and hard as stone. It didn't even look like he was breathing as she removed her top, straddling his legs in only her bra and skirt. He looked up at her with wide eyes and she tried to encourage him as much as possible.

He still wouldn't move. She could see his hand twitching at his side and with a wicked smirk on her lips, she picked it up and placed it over her chest for him, watching as all the blood drained out of his face.

"Rachel?" He asked as his hand started to move, caressing the sensitive flesh and making stars flash behind her eyes. While she was still a bit hesitant, she was no longer afraid of what was about to happen. She wanted to do this, she was ready, and she'd been waiting for a very long time. "Are you sure about this? I thought you didn't trust me?" He said, revisiting their argument from before.

"I was wrong, Finn. I was so afriad of everyone and everything and I said things that I wish I could take back. But I'm ready now." She leaned over and captured his lips in a kiss that started to stoke the kindling fires inside of her. "I love you." She spoke the simple words into his lips and that was all he needed to hear as he took control and sent her into the deepest depths of their love.

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><p>The sun rose slowly over the horizon, and it woke up Rachel as she realized she was in a strange and unfamiliar room. As the events of the night before came rushing back to her, she remembered how she had gotten to this point and turned over only to stare into the sleeping face of her lover, Finn. She couldn't believe that they had finally crossed that delicate threshold the night before, and while she was definitely exhausted from their activities, she knew in her heart that it had been <em>right<em>. It had been the moment she'd been waiting for her entire life and it was definitely worth it.

In fact, she couldn't wait to do it again. It was hard for her to relax because it was her first time, and Finn was so excited that he only lasted about a minute, but it was totally perfect because it was everything she had ever wanted it to be and more. She blushed at the memory and remembered that she was still very naked under the covers, as she pulled them around her. At this time of the morning she would already be finished with her daily workout, but she was perfectly content with staying where she was without a care in the world.

Her blissful morning was ruined when her blackberry started to beep, and she looked at the text message from her fathers as Finn continued to snore next to her. She shook her head, amused, as liberal amounts of drool dripped out of his mouth and onto the pillow as she read the message.

"_Hey Princess! Dad and I are on our way home and we can't wait to have breakfast with you for the first time in weeks! Love you, miss you, see you soon."_ Her heart ached for her daddies as a sudden wave of melancholia hit her like a ton of bricks. She hadn't seen them in days and while she felt safer at Mercedes' house, she still needed her fathers' love and support. A brilliant idea popped into her head and she got out of bed immediately so she could get ready to start her day. Unfortunately, her enthusiasm also woke up her sleeping boyfriend. Or should she call him her lover? That sounded much more romantic.

"Wass goin' on?" He slurred in his sleep. She walked over to him to give him a simple kiss but he reached out for her and pulled her back on the bed with a shocked squeal. Playfully hitting him on the chest, she scolded him while he took her into his embrace, holding their naked bodies together as the morning sun shone on their skin. "Shh, you're gonna wake up the whole house," he kissed her forehead. "What are you doing up so early?"

"I have to go home. My dads are on their way and they want to have breakfast with me. I haven't seen them in days and I miss them a lot." He nodded his head against hers and yawned deeply.

"Alright, just let me get dressed and we can go."

"Finn, you really don't have to." She protested on his behalf. "Stay here and sleep."

"No, it's okay. You came with Mercedes last night, you can't walk all the way home by yourself." He released her from his embrace and the two lovers got dressed and ready to start the day while the rest of the glee club kids stayed blissfully unaware in their slumber. When they went downstairs to leave she spotted the majority of them sprawled out on the couches in the living room and family room, snoring like beasts while they left them a note and slipped out unnoticed. When they got to Finn's car, he shot her a concerned look.

"I thought we were going to tell them about Jacob?" Rachel shrugged while she buckled in her seat belt.

"I doubt they'll even be awake before noon. Let them sleep and I'll tell them all later. We're all safe now, there's nothing to worry about anymore." They shared a content smile as Finn started to drive towards Rachel's house.

"So, what did you think about last night?" Rachel smirked as she saw Finn smiling in her periphery. "I sure had a lot of fun."

"Me too, Finn. It was very special." He grabbed her hand over the center console of his truck and squeezed.

"It was special for me too. I love you."

"I love you too, Finn. I'm just so glad that this is all over and I can finally go home. I love Mercedes' family, don't get me wrong, but I can't wait to sleep in my own bed again." The truck started to pull down Rachel's block and she started to plan out the breakfast in her mind. Her dad's would be home in about an hour, so she had plenty of time to make egg white omelets and even cook up some bacon or sausage for the boys! She knew this was going to be an amazing morning as Finn pulled in front of Rachel's house. She hadn't been here since her initial attack, and the memory of her falling from the roof and onto the covered pool flashed before her eyes as she tried to shake it off and focus on the now.

"Come on, Finn, let's get going." She grabbed her bags and exited the car but stopped short when she noticed something on her porch. She froze in place as her heart started to pound wildly. Something here was not right.

"What is that, Rachel?" Finn noticed the large mass on her front porch as well, and as they both approached it, they realized that it was a body laying face-down on her property. Was it a town drunk? A neighbor who got lost? She approached the person and a bright blue scarf caught her attention as Finn flipped the body over.

"Oh my God! _No_!" She screamed aloud when she saw the lifeless eyes of Jesse St. James staring up at her with his throat cut, the blood still pouring out of the wound. His body was still warm, which meant he hadn't been dead long. How could this happen when Jacob was with the police last night? The blood continued to pool around their feet and she scrambled for her cell phone, trying to call the detectives and inform them that Jacob wasn't the killer. He was still out there somewhere, and the thought made her skin crawl.

She stared at Jesse's dead body, on her porch, and wondered why he'd even come here in the first place. What was Jesse trying to tell her that had gotten him killed? Finn was still staring at Jesse's dead body with tears threatening to fall.

"I hated the guy, but I never wanted him dead." He whispered to no one as Rachel called the detectives. She left a message on Detective McNally's cell and was about to call the station when she got the sudden disconcerting feeling that she was being watched.

Dropping the phone to her side, she looked up as a dark figure emerged from behind Finn's truck with a sharp, bloody knife in his hand. She barely had the time to scream before Finn grabbed her hand and took off, ready to run for their lives as the killer followed them.

The chase had begun.

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><p><strong>Rachel's Final Thought's: <strong>Just when I thought it was finally safe. . .

Until next time. . . sings. . . Don't Stop, Reviewing!

Merci mille fois, mes amis!


	7. The Vendetta

DISCLAIMER: I neither own Glee nor the characters. They are the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. This is purely for fun. Enjoy!

A/N: It's time to learn the truth about our killers!

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><p><strong>Chapter Seven: The Vendetta<strong>

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><p>Her heart was pounding out of control as Finn pulled her around the back of her house, her feet practically tripping over themselves in her haste to escape the killer. She refused to turn around, lest she see the figure from her nightmares chase her with his bloody knife, making all of her previous nightmares come true right in front of her eyes. She turned the corner of the house to the back patio and realized that her fathers had not only fixed the back door, but they had opened the pool up to entertain guests. Looking at the crystal clear waters of the pool, she could remember the horror she had felt falling off the roof during the first attack into the murky waters, but that paled in comparison to the way she felt now. Right now she felt helpless, trapped, and at the mercy of whoever wanted her dead.<p>

"Come on, in here!" Finn pulled her into the garage and covered her mouth with his hand, pushing them as far into the back as possible. They were surrounded by the landscaper's tools, and Finn took a metal rake into his hands as a weapon while Rachel cowered in the corner. They were trapped in here and the killer was on his way.

"We're gonna die," the words escaped her lips in a whimper and Finn turned his head sharply towards her.

"No we're not, Rachel, not while I can help it. Try and call the detectives again." She tried once more and couldn't reach anyone, so she called 911 instead.

"911 Emergency."

"Hello, this is Rachel Berry and I'm calling from my backyard on Hawthorne Street. The killer is here and he's trying to get to us." Before she could elaborate, she could hear the door creaking open, and she hung up the call and hid as far back in the garage as possible. Finn held his weapon in his hands while they could hear the soft pattering of feet approach them. Her heart was in her throat as the killer stepped into view, the bright mask standing out against the darkness in the room.

They stood facing one another for a tense moment where no one who who would react first. The masked menace in front of them was mocking them, she could tell from the way he paced in front of them slowly, ready to strike.

All of a sudden, Finn took the initiative as Rachel watched on in horror. "You stay away from her!" He ran forward with the metal rake in his hand and the killer grabbed it by the handle, so both he and Finn were battling for control of the weapon. Finn was one of the strongest people she knew, but the killer was still overpowering them as she froze in fear, doing nothing but staring at the scene in front of her.

"Rachel, run! Go get help!" Finn's screaming snapped her out of her trance and she shot up from her hiding position and ran for the door, causing the killer to hesitate for a split second while Finn took control of the weapon. She escaped and headed for the front yard, hoping to catch the detectives when they arrived. As she ran from her backyard she could see the squad car already parked behind Finn's truck in the driveway. The relief she felt was so strong it was like a kick to the chest as she ran forward towards the car. She could see Detectives Traeger and McNally in the front seat and she ran to them, her arms waving in the air as she screamed for their help.

They didn't move from their car.

"Detectives, we need your help! The killer is in the backyard with Finn!" She screamed as she approached the car, but when she looked in the window she had to cover her mouth to stifle the gasp of horror that fell from her lips.

They were dead. Sitting in the front seat next to one another, their throats had been slit just like Jesse's had been. Opening the driver's side door, she had to hold in her cries of distress as she reached over the bleeding body of Detective McNally so she could grab the police radio. She shot a worried look towards her house where Finn was still fighting the killer as she took the communicator in her hands.

"Lima Police, Detectives Traeger and McNally are dead. I repeat, they've been killed. This is Rachel Berry and I need as many police at my house as possible, the killer is here." She could hear a loud, masculine scream coming from the backyard and she dropped the receiver from her hand so she could run to help Finn.

But what if he had lost his battle against the masked killer? What would she see when she went back into the yard? Would she be killed too? She had no weapon, no way to protect herself against the deadly threat that plagued her life. However, too many people had been killed because of her already. It was time to end this once and for all before she lost the one person she had ever truly loved.

"Finn!" She called his name as she ran towards the backyard, knowing deep down that she was probably running right towards her death. She turned the corner and could see nothing but her crystal clear pool and her patio furniture. "Finn?" She called out once more as a chill settled into her bones. No one answered as goose bumps prickled up and down her arms. Something wasn't right.

"Rachel. . ." She could hear someone moaning her name, a low keening cry as she followed the voice behind her garage. There, lying on the floor, was her beautiful Finn, lying in a pool of blood as he grabbed the stab wound on his side, trying to stop the blood from pouring out. She whimpered in fear as she grabbed at his bloody clothes, trying to put more pressure on the wound.

"Don't worry Finn, it's going to be alright, I promise you. You're going to be okay." She was just letting words fly out of her mouth right now because she was in no state of mind to actually think rationally. She knew that the killer was just waiting for her to emerge so he could finish the job, but she wouldn't leave Finn like this; bloody, stabbed, and half dead.

"Rachel, I didn't know. . .there were two of them. You have to get out of here," he coughed weakly and she could see blood gathering in his mouth as his eyes started to flutter closed.

"No, not while you're like this, Finn. I called the police and they should be here soon."

"I didn't even think. . . I should have realized it before. . .Puck was right. . ." Finn was starting to babble in his delusion and Rachel put as much pressure on his side as possible while the blood continued to flow. "It was them, Rachel. That's why they killed Jesse. . ."

"Who was it, Finn? Tell me baby. . ." She stroked his hair while she tried to blink through the tears. He was losing too much blood, he needed to get to a hospital.

"Rachel you have to go, they're coming for you. She never really forgave you. She wants you dead." His voice became weaker and weaker as her panic started to flare. Shaking his body, his eyes closed and would not open after his last statement. She checked his pulse and while it was faint, it was still there, but the loss of blood was definitely not helping.

"Finn? Finn!"

"I don't think you need to worry about him anymore." A deep voice could be heard behind her, and when she turned around she was facing two figures, cloaked in shadow. The first person stepped forward in the mask, and when he lifted it off, she was staring into the cruel hard eyes of Dustin Goolsby, the director of Vocal Adrenaline. He stared at her like she was lower than dirt. "I think it's time for us to be honest, don't you Sunshine?" Rachel stared in horror as the other figure stepped out from the shadows and sent Rachel a wicked smile. Sunshine Corazon was one of the few people she had a height advantage over, but as she stared down at her tiny frame she could barely believe her eyes.

"Sunshine?" Rachel asked, incredulous as the girl in question stared at her with unabashed hatred glowing in her eyes. "I don't understand."

"Hello, Rachel. I hope things have been well with you since I saw you last." Rachel could see the bloody knife in Sunshine's hand that glowed with the sheen of Finn's blood and she could feel every nerve in her body tense up as she stared at her glee club rivals. What ever happened to the concept of friendly competition?

"What's going on here, Sunshine? You're seriously trying to kill off the competition now?" She asked as she crossed her arms. "That's pretty damn low, even for Vocal Adrenaline."

"Is it though?" Dustin said as he watched on with amusement. "I make my students work so hard they bleed, cry, and even pass out on stage. I won't lie, some students have even died on stage before but the lawsuit said it wasn't my fault. I make sure their lives are nothing but show choir; 24 hours a day, sleep and food be damned." He laughed to himself, but Rachel found no humor in the situation at all. "But you and your bunch of mouth breathers always find a way to win, even without all that hard work." He scoffed to himself. "You didn't even write the songs until the day of competition! Do you even know what a rehearsal is, you lazy brats?"

Rachel stared at him, completely incredulous. "What are you even talking about, we lost Nationals!"

"Yeah, we know that, but if it weren't for the little kiss you shared with that man-giant you call a boyfriend, you probably would have placed in the top ten. And we can't have that next year." He lifted up his knife. "No, we can't have that at all."

"So you're going to try and kill all the members of my glee club? So you can win another National show choir competition?"

"No, not all of them, just the ones that pose a threat to our victory. You, the meathead over there that's drowning in his own blood, and maybe that black diva chick but we'll have to see how they perform next season without you two before we start killing anyone else." He started to approach her, but Sunshine held up a hand and Dustin stayed still. She still couldn't believe that little Sunshine Corazon was the mastermind behind these murders and she had a right to know why.

"No, Goolsby. Your part in my plan is over now. You did a great job, and I really valued how stupid and gullible you truly are." Dustin looked down at Sunshine with confusion marring his features.

"Huh?" Rachel and Dustin both had the same reaction.

Before she could answer them though, she brought up the knife in a sharp, swift motion and started to stab Dustin in the gut, right in front of Rachel's face. She screamed as blood splattered on her from the close proximity and could do nothing but stare in horror as Sunshine stabbed Dustin to death on the patio in her backyard. When the body had slumped to the floor, dead, she turned to Rachel with a wicked grin on her face.

"Ah, I'm glad that's over with. Why does killing have to be so messy though?" Sunshine smiled as she wiped the excess blood off of her knife and Rachel stood there in shock, wanting answers.

"What the hell is going on here, Sunshine?" She yelled as she tried to avoid the puddles of blood that were accumulating on her patio. She wondered idly if Finn was still okay, but there was nothing she could do for him until the police arrived.

Right now, it was just Rachel and Sunshine, and she was ready to know why this girl wanted her dead.

"It's really easy to use people, did you know that? To plant ideas in their heads and make them think they're geniuses just so they could play into my master plan. It worked with Goolsby, it worked with St. James, and I'm sure it will work with the police when they finally show up." She fluttered her eyelashes and faked a smile while her voice sounded as sweet as sugar. "I'm just a tiny foreign exchange student with a big voice and even bigger dreams tying to make it in America!" She scoffed. "Yeah right."

"Sunshine," she had to will her voice to stop shaking. "I thought we had talked during Nationals. I thought we were friends now. Why are you doing this?"

"Why am I doing this?" Sunshine repeated as she started to laugh. "Why am I doing this?" She yelled, almost hysterical as Rachel took a step backwards. She was practically hysterical and Rachel could see her quickly becoming unhinged. "I wasn't lying, what I had told you in the bathroom in New York. Vocal Adrenaline had broken me, in more ways than one, but by that point the damage had already been done. I had snapped a long time ago, you see, and it was all because of you."

Rachel swallowed the panic that started to rise into her throat like bile. "Sunshine, I already said I was sorry. . . " The tiny Filipino cut her off.

"You sent me to a crack house, you selfish bitch! I was new to this country; I was scared and I trusted you and you still sent me to a _crack house_. Do you know what happened to me there, Rachel? How it changed me? _Do you even care?_" The girl was screaming now, and Rachel could see the pain and anger radiating off of Sunshine in waves. She had no idea that Sunshine still held such a powerful vendetta against her after all of this time.

"Of course I care, Sunshine, I want to help you!"

"It's too late for that, Rachel! I wanted to stay at McKinley. I loved it there and I wanted to belong there. I could have had friends and support and a real high school experience. It was _your fault_ that VA was able to recruit me so easily, and I went willingly because I thought it was my one chance to beat you. To rub it in your face that I was better than a selfish spoiled bitch like you!" She paused just long enough for Rachel to see a single tear drop from her eye. "And then I cracked. Vocal Adrenaline broke me with their hardcore flush diets, reverse psychology and never-ending rehearsals. Every single day was torture and it was all your fault. That's when I started formulating my plan. It was all about you from the very beginning, but I had to find a way to cover my tracks, you see. When I spoke to you at Nationals, and you said that you had sent me to the crack house out of _jealousy_, that's when I _really_ decided to act on it. I brought in Dustin and Jesse to serve as my scapegoats while you went on with your life blissfully unaware of my intentions."

"Jesse was involved in this?" She asked as her blood ran cold.

"Barely. I told him that we were trying to scare you with a stalker, so he was the one to give us your address, phone number and locker combination. He was so hurt after you lost because of your relationship with Frankenteen over there that he wanted to find a way to get back at you two. He also made the initial phone call, but I never told him of our true intentions. By the time he figured out what we were actually doing there was no need for his service anymore."

"So you just killed him?"

"Of course! He'd come here this morning to warn you about me, so I had to find a way to silence him for good. Now when the police find your bodies, they'll see Jesse and Dustin and think that they were the ones who planned it all. Dustin still has the stab wound on his arm as proof that he's the killer. It was way too easy to manipulate him into my plan. As far as competition goes, he would do anything to help his team get the advantage, so his involvement seems completely natural."

"And Jacob? What about him?"

Sunshine scoffed and waved her hands in dismissal. "He's just a weird kid who's really obsessed with you. I didn't even have to plant those pictures of you, he had them all already. He was the best scapegoat I never even planned for."

"So you've had this vendetta against me all this time? You killed all of those innocent people just because of me?"

"_You sent me to a crack house over a stupid, insignificant solo because I posed a threat to your position in the club!"_ The tiny girl screamed once more and Rachel could practically feel the pain and anger that soaked through her every word. _"You're a selfish, jealous bitch who needs to die!"_

Standing across from the threat that had plagued her for weeks, the threat that had chased her out of her house and killed her friends, she knew now what she had to do. The threat that had haunted her dreams and kept her up at night was waiting for her revenge, but Rachel refused to give up. She had been genuine in her apology to Sunshine; she really regretted what she had done in the past, but now it was too late and she had to face the consequences.

A strange sort of calm settled through her as she stood across from her enemy, and as she looked into the eyes of the killer, she realized that she was no longer afraid. Holding her head up high, she looked at the bloody knife in Sunshine's hand before staring into her cold eyes and addressing her with a hard, but even tone.

"Then come at me, Sunshine. We end this now."

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><p>Rachel's Final Thoughts: I <em>might<em> be jealous sometimes, but at least I'm not a serial killer.

Until next time. . .sings. . .Don't Stop, Reviewing!

Merci mille fois, mes amis!


	8. Showdown

DISCLAIMER: I neither own Glee nor the characters. They are the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. This is purely for fun. Enjoy!

A/N: I am so sorry this took so long but I hope it was worth the wait!

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><p><strong>Chapter Eight: Showdown<strong>

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><p>It definitely was a humid morning, that was for sure. Rachel stood outside on her patio, trying to ignore the heat as she stood across from Sunshine Corazon and the insane look in her eyes as the two young girls slowly paced around the pool. Rachel tried her best to avoid the patches of blood that stained her once pristine stone patio but it was no use; between both Finn and Dustin's wounds the blood was practically everywhere. She peeked over her shoulder to spot Finn's body among the chaos and she silently prayed that he would be okay. People survived from stab wounds all the time, right? All she needed to do was hold out long enough for the police to arrive and she and Finn would hopefully be okay.<p>

Unfortunately for her, Sunshine had no interest in being caught in the act and she was becoming desperate, fast. With a keening cry, the tiny Filipino girl raised her knife high in the air and ran straight for Rachel with a deadly, passionate fire in her eyes. On reflex alone Rachel was able to use Sunshine's momentum against her; she grabbed the girl by the wrist and dislodged the knife from her hands while Sunshine went falling in the other direction. Rachel threw the knife in the pool while her attacker was regaining her balance, and the two girls were now unarmed as they faced off against one another.

"You bitch!" Sunshine screamed as she recovered, shaking her head at the pool. "Now I'm going to have to kill you with my bare hands."

"Try me," was Rachel's low reply as she backed up a few steps, ready to fight. All of Rachel's sympathy for Sunshine's plight was gone, replaced with a need for vengeance that surpassed any regard for her past actions. She knew that she had been mean to Sunshine at the beginning of the year but people were dead now, and she couldn't help but blame herself. Her simple apology to Sunshine at Nationals would never be able to undo what Sunshine had experienced at the hands of Vocal Adrenaline, and nothing she could say or do could change what happened to her friends. But Rachel refused to stop until the threat was gone. She was not going to stand by and let Sunshine hurt anyone else, especially her and Finn.

"You're so _lucky_, aren't you?" The sarcasm was practically dripping from her voice. "You have so many friends, so many people who are trying to protect you. I could have had that too, if it weren't for you. I could have had friends who loved me and cared about me!"

"Yeah, you could of, I don't deny that, Sunshine." She watched as her eyes flew open from the shock of her statement. "I wish I could somehow change what happened between us, but I can't. However, that doesn't justify the fact that you went crazy and spent half the year trying to ruin glee club before killing my friends and trying to kill me." She crossed her arms as the standoff continued. "Why exactly did you kill all those people? I understand why you killed Jesse, but what about Azemio? What about Figgins and the detectives?"

"Oh, I don't know, there were a lot of reasons, I suppose." Her voice was neutral and nonchalant. "I wanted to send you a message and I wanted everyone to know that you were my target. And I know from experience that there's nothing you love more than the spotlight pointed directly at you; I thought you would enjoy the attention. Then the bodies just started piling up and I stopped caring."

"That's sick."

"So are you and your obsession with solos and glee club and the career you're never going to have because I am going to string your guts all across Lima, Ohio!"

Rachel scoffed, "Last time I checked your knife was at the bottom of my pool."

"It won't be for much longer." Before Rachel could react Sunshine lunged at her with her arms stretched out towards her throat. She grabbed Rachel by the neck and pushed the two of them into the pool, and Rachel quickly gasped for air before the water completely covered her body. She was so disoriented from the fall that she that she didn't notice how Sunshine started to squeeze her neck tighter and tighter, pushing her to the bottom of the pool with no way of escape. She flailed her arms and tried to pry Sunshine's hands off of her neck but the girl's grip was rock solid. She tried to struggle, but it did nothing but use up her already valuable air supply.

Slowly but surely, the air became stale in her lungs. She could feel the burn of need start to overwhelm her as the hands tightened on her neck. Her vision was starting to go dark as the air bubbled out of her nose and mouth and she started to panic. In an act of desperation she started to kick and punch wildly, trying to get out of the girl's grasp as they continued to struggle underwater. Rachel kicked Sunshine in the shin and in her momentary distraction she was able to claw at Sunshine's face until the hands were released from her neck. She quickly kicked to the surface of the pool and inhaled deeply, welcoming the humid morning air as it entered her lungs. Her body was desperate to suck in all of the air possible as she started to kick towards the ladder, trying to escape the pool and the dangers of being in the water with a serial killer. She reached the ladder and started to emerge from the pool, her clothes dripping all over the place and mixing in with the puddles of blood from before. She spotted Finn's body from her position and was about to run to check on him when she felt a pain like never before shoot up her side. It felt like she was being ripped apart from the inside as she tried her best to turn around and see what was happening.

"Ahh!" Rachel screamed when she saw the knife jutting out of her left side as Sunshine's malicious smile could be seen in her periphery. She pulled the knife out quickly and stabbed her once more in the leg this time, and Rachel could feel the blade ripping through her skin and her muscles, leaving her incapacitated and practically crippled. Rachel fell onto the patio, her blood now mixing with the blood of the others as the acrid smell of chlorine permeated her nostrils. The pain she felt in her side and in her leg were like nothing she had ever felt before as her head started to pound and her vision blurred. Her body started to sweat and shake all over as she tried to grab the wounds at her left side to staunch the blood flow. Was this what death felt like? If it was, then dying _really_ hurt.

"Not so energetic now, are you?" Sneered Sunshine as she pulled herself out of the pool and next to Rachel's fallen body. The tiny Filipino girl kicked Rachel's good side and the pain spasmed all throughout her body as she tried not to yell out from the pain. She wouldn't give Sunshine the satisfaction of hearing her scream.

Sunshine held up the knife in the morning sun and Rachel could now see her own blood staining the blade as Sunshine hovered over her useless body. It felt like all of her strength was pouring out of the stab wounds in her side and as much as she wanted to run, she couldn't summon the energy to even move. Her side was on fire, the blood pouring freely from the wounds and as much as it hurt, she continued to put as much pressure on it as possible while her attacker watched with victory shining in her eyes.

Rachel could barely see through the tears that she wouldn't let fall, but she saw Sunshine kneel next to her body and tried to look up in her face. She wanted to look into the eyes of the person who was about to kill her. At least she'd put up a good fight, in the end.

"Shh, Rachel, it will all be over soon," she cooed as she placed the blade on the smooth and sensitive skin of her throat. One slice here and it would all be over. She wouldn't have to run or hide anymore. She wouldn't have to fear her safety wherever she went.

She would have peace. There would be no more pain.

She whimpered as she closed her eyes, welcoming death before she looked in the eyes of her killer. However, when she looked up, her killer wasn't the only thing she saw in her blurry vision.

"Finn. . .," she whispered in a daze, since she had already lost so much blood she was starting to lose consciousness.

"Yes, your sweetheart is waiting in hell for you, Rachel. Let that console you while I end your suffering." Sunshine moved her arm to make the clean slice across Rachel's throat but was immediately thrown off of her before she could make her move. Rachel turned her head to the side long enough to see Finn's body hovering over Sunshine's, pinning her down while he knocked the knife from her hands. She didn't know how he had summoned the strength to help her when she could barely move from her own stab wound, but his interference was more than welcome. Rachel could barely believe her eyes as she tried to move her weak and heavy body closer to Finn and Sunshine. The pain that spasmed through her body were so intense she thought she might faint, but now that Finn was awake and moving, she knew that she had to stay conscious just a little while longer, for both of their sakes.

"Get the hell off of me, you oaf!" Sunshine screamed but Finn refused to move. He was about twice the size and weight of Sunshine, so she wasn't going anywhere with Finn's massive body slumped on top of hers.

"Finn!" Rachel weakly called to him, elated that he wasn't dead, but she instantly saw the stains of blood on his clothes, that only grew deeper and larger as the blood still flowed freely from his wounds. The paleness of his skin also worried her, and she could tell that he was no better than she was at the moment. She tried her hardest to drag her body over to him, and she quickly snatched up the knife and held it close to her for protection.

"Rachel," he wheezed. His voice was barely over a whisper and his face was even more deathly pale the closer she got to him. "Are you okay?"

"We need to get to a hospital, Finn." She moaned, but Sunshine's struggling body was still pinned underneath Finn's and she didn't know how much longer he would last before his energy left him completely.

"I don't think I'm gonna make it Rach." She watched as his eyes fluttered while he tried to stay conscious and he slowly started to fall onto Sunshine's body even further as she protested and tried to slip away from his grasp.

"Finn, you have to just stay with me for a little bit longer, okay?" All of a sudden, the sound of sirens could be heard in the distance and they got closer with every second that passed by. After what seemed like a lifetime, the police had finally arrived at Rachel's house. "They're here, Finn! The police are here so all you have to do is hold on and we're going to be okay."

Finn nodded weakly, but she could see that he had lost way too much blood and was fading fast. She wanted to focus on nothing but her boyfriend's health, but Sunshine was putting up quite the fight against Finn and his giant frame. The weaker Finn became, the less he could contain Sunshine. "Get the fuck off of me!" Sunshine refused to sop screaming and squirming, and in her tantrum she kicked Finn right in his gaping stab wound. He hollered in agony as he flipped over away from Sunshine and she was able to slip out of his grasp and get to her feet once more. She kicked Finn in the face and from her position on the ground Rachel could do nothing but watch as he blacked out again like before. She really hoped he would wake up again like last time, but from the way his limp body stretched over the deep pool of blood on her patio, she couldn't be sure. She didn't even have the strength to run from her attacker, so as far as Rachel was concerned she wasn't going anywhere. She couldn't move, she couldn't escape, and while Sunshine was the smallest, most weakest girl Rachel had ever met, she still had the upper hand over her and there was nothing she could do about it.

Sunshine pulled her wet hair away from her face and looked down at the blood that was staining her clothes with an air of distaste. With a wicked smirk, she walked over to Rachel and sunk down onto her haunches, taunting her cruelly while she wanted nothing more than to run. However, every move she tried to make to stand felt like her body was being ripped apart from the inside, so she thought it was best to stay still even though all of the nerves in her body were screaming at her to run.

It was of no use. She was wounded, she was weak, and she had already lost too much blood. There would be no more running for Rachel. This was it.

"Well, that was inconvenient timing." Sunshine said as she towered over her bloody and broken body. Rachel sat there with a tight grimace on her face but refused to move, refused to speak. She watched as Sunshine looked around the patio with her face crinkled in confusion. "The cops should be here any second and I can't find my knife, so lets end this right now, shall we?" Without preamble, Sunshine sat directly on Rachel's chest, pushing all of the air out of her lungs and grabbed her by the throat once more as she tried to choke the life out of her. Little did Sunshine know that Rachel had been hiding the knife at her side, and as the small immigrant girl tried to strangle her she grabbed the knife in her fist and plunged it into the first appendage she could reach. It was her arm and immediately Sunshine started to scream and squeeze Rachel's neck even tighter as the blood left a crimson trail down her arm.

Rachel was already weakened by the stab wounds and the loss of air, but she refused to let Sunshine win as she pulled the knife back and plunged the knife into her body again, this time hitting her directly in the neck as blood started to pour from the wound and flow all over her body and down onto Rachel's. The grip from her neck was released as Sunshine fell off of her, gasping for air as blood poured from both her neck and mouth. Rachel tried to sit up and gasp for air as well while Sunshine struggled in front of her in vain. The blood gurgled in her throat as she choked on it and fell to the patio dead, her eyes still shining with vengeance as the life trickled out of her.

She stared at the body with wary until she was certain that it would move no more.

Sunshine was dead.

As the truth seeped into her already weakened mind, she could feel the overwhelming fatigue settle into her bruised and battered body. The low sirens in the distance were now blaring in their proximity, but she knew that she would not be conscious for much longer. With a loud clang she dropped the knife on the ground and closed her eyes, instantly falling into the welcome blackness of sleep as people in the distance started to call her name.

She didn't answer them as the blackness swallowed her whole.

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><p>Next chapter is the epilogue<p>

Until next time, _sings_, Don't Stop, _Reviewing_

Merci mille fois mes amis


	9. Epilogue

DISCLAIMER: I neither own Glee nor the characters. They are the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. This is purely for fun. Enjoy!

A/N: Sorry about my little ff vacation, but I'm here to bring you the epilogue you've been waiting for. Thank you for your patience!

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><p><strong>Epilogue<strong>

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><p>Blood. There was blood everywhere; dripping down the walls, in puddles on the floor; no matter where she turned there was blood covering everything in sight. She walked down the crimson red corridors, shaking from fear, and blood was the only thing she could see. Not a speck of blue from the sky, or a splash of green from the grass. There was only blood.<p>

There was even blood on her own hands.

"Get it off of me," she whispered to herself in the solemn silence of her blood soaked nightmare. She tried to rub it off of her hands, onto her clothes, but nothing she did could get the color off of her skin. The blood started to travel up her wrists, then her arms, until it started spreading all over her body. "Get it off of me!" She screamed, hysterical, until she could feel it creeping up her neck, over her face.

"Get it off of me!" Shrieking, out of control, she wanted to run, wanted to escape this horror, but she couldn't move her legs, couldn't get away. "Someone please help me, please. . .," she whimpered while her vision went red, then black as the night.

"Rachel," a soft voice was whispering her name and when she opened her eyes she was no longer drowning in a sea of crimson. She had to blink furiously to adjust to the bright lights that surrounded her, but when her vision came back into focus, she realized that she had simply been trapped in a nightmare, and her saviors now surrounded her bed with varying looks of shock and sympathy on their faces.

"Where am I?" She asked groggily, her voice still hoarse from lack of use. Her head was pounding, and she looked around at all of her gleeks in the room and let out a sigh of relief that none of them had been injured in the fray. A nurse came in to check her vitals and she finally realized that she was in a hospital. Her left side ached more than any pain she'd ever felt, and she was quite incapable of moving her left leg above the knee. This was going to make dancing for glee club very difficult next year.

"You're at the hospital, Rachel. You and Finn lost a lot of blood." Kurt and Mercedes stepped forward, one friend on each side of the bed, and Mercedes grabbed her hand, stroking it softly.

"You gave us quite a scare, drama queen. You're not supposed to be competing for Best Death Scene for another few years, at least until you make it to Broadway." She squeezed Mercedes' hand in thanks for all that she had done for her. If Mercedes hadn't hidden her away, Sunshine would have gotten to her ages ago. "You had two stab wounds, Rachel, and the one in your side barely missed your kidneys. The nurses said your leg pain will be persistent, and you're going to need physical therapy, but after a few months you should be fine. We'll have to find somewhere to put you during group numbers until you heal. I think we should stick you in the back with Finn. Hide the bad dancers." She added with a wink.

Rachel tried to chuckle, but the simple act made her side hurt so much she thought her stitches might pull. The mention of Finn put her on high alert and she needed to know where he was. She turned to Kurt and she couldn't help but notice how tired he looked. In fact, they all looked exhausted.

"What happened to Finn, Kurt? Where is he?" The color drained from his face and his grip on her hand went slack while he tried to formulate a response. To Rachel it just looked like his jaw was hanging open and she started to panic. "Kurt, where is he?" He sighed dramatically and finally met Rachel's gaze once more. His voice was soft when he spoke to her. Too soft, too gentle, too unlike Kurt.

"Rachel, he's still in the ICU. He lost more blood than you did and to be honest, he hasn't been doing well. The both of you have been asleep for three days and Finn hasn't been showing the same progress as you've been."

"Three days?" No wonder her friends looked tired. They all nodded their heads in exhaustion. This was too much information to take in. She needed to see Finn. He had to be okay; she knew deep down that he was one of the strongest guys she'd ever met. He could handle a stab wound, right?

"I want to see him." She said suddenly, and her friends exchanged worried glances. She tried to sit up and the pain that spread through her was so intense she thought she might scream.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Rachel. You need your rest, you just woke up and you're bound to be sore." Artie added from the group.

"I don't care about resting, I care about Finn. I want to see him now!" Why couldn't they just help her steal a wheelchair or something? The nurse took this opportunity to enter the room and she could tell instantly that Rachel was in a state of duress. She started to shoo her friends out of the room, and added a new bag to her IV. It was small, and as her friends were saying goodbye to her the room started to go dark, and she fell into a restless sleep where the only color she saw was red.

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><p>A few more days passed and Rachel was confined in bed for the entire time. It was driving her crazy; her boyfriend was somewhere in this hospital, hanging onto his life and she wasn't even allowed to go and see him. Where was the justice?<p>

It would help her cause if she were able to move from her bed, but as of now the stitches were still raw, and they had to monitor her internal functions in addition to her vitals. There had been a lot of internal bleeding, which was Finn's problem as well, and Rachel was starting to panic over his health from the privacy of her own hospital bed. No matter how many times she begged her father's to help her see Finn, they refused to try and sneak her out of the wing. Instead they promised to go check on him themselves, and they always came back with the same answer: "He's hanging on."

It was as if Sunshine were still here, stabbing her in the heart instead of in the side.

Finally, after five whole days in the hospital where she had put on a musical revue for every doctor, nurse and orderly in the entire building, Burt and Carole came in to see her with a sort of quiet excitement bubbling under the surface. When she noticed Burt pushing a wheelchair, she almost burst out of her skin.

"They've moved Finn out of the ICU Rachel, he's awake now. He won't stop asking for you." The tears were already swimming on her face by the time they got her into the wheelchair. Burt held her tenderly while placing her into the seat, and Carole walked next to her, pushing her IV along with them as they went to go see Finn.

When she rolled into the room, Finn's smiling face was all she could see. Consequently, It was the only thing that mattered.

"Hey baby." His voice was weak and strained, but his smile was there, which filled her with more joy than she ever thought possible.

"Hey," was all she could say through the river of tears on her face. He looked thin and so tired, but she had never seen a more brilliant image in her life. It gave her hope. It showed her that no matter what had happened to her, they had survived; their wounds would heal.

"What happened to Sunshine?" A mental image of the Filipina's face flashed before her and she could still see the blood gurgling out of her mouth. It was an image that would stick with her forever, she was sure of it.

"Sunshine is gone. She won't be hurting anyone else that I love." She reached over to grab his hand and he barely had the strength to squeeze it. She knew, though, that Finn would be alright. They weren't leaving the hospital any time soon, but at least they would be together. "You saved me, Finn. You saved my life."

"I had to Rachel. I couldn't just let her kill you. I love you."

"I love you too, Finn. I love you so much." She wanted nothing more than to lean over and kiss him, but neither of them had the strength to do so. She settled with kissing the skin on his knuckles, and brushing his hand over her cheek in a tender motion.

"You know what this means though, Rachel?" He said with a hint of amusement in his tone, and she looked up at him.

"What?"

"It means that you better be nice to all the new kids that join glee club this year," he said with a small wink. "You never know; they could all have psychopathic tendencies and you don't want to wake anymore sleeping dragons."

"Yes, Finn, I understand. I can't be a diva anymore." She sighed. "But what if they're better than me?"

Finn glared at her from his spot on the bed. "Rachel. . .," he said with warning in his tone.

"All right, all right. I get it. I'll be good."

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><p>The rest of the summer passed by in a blur of physical therapy and group trauma sessions with the glee club. They had all decided to do the group therapy together, since there was always a lot of drama in the group anyway, they hoped that therapy could help them solve their issues with one another and work better as a group. The stress of the serial killer had weighed heavily on everyone's mind, not only Finn and Rachel's, so it was good to air out everyone's feelings so there were no regrets when they started school. In Rachel's opinion, the group had never worked better together. Finn just never wanted to see Puck cry like that again.<p>

When school started in September, things were still really tough. Rachel was still on crutches because of her leg, and Finn was put on second string for football because Coach Beiste didn't want to take any chances with his internal injuries. He was bummed out, but at least he would still be in uniform for most of the season and he might be able to play again soon, depending on his progress.

It was hard for Rachel to walk past Principal Figgin's office during the day, knowing that it was her fault that he'd been killed. Her nightmares hadn't yet ceased and she doubted they'd ever will; at least she'd stopped dreaming about hallways filled with blood. Now she just saw images, flashes of fear that awoke the dormant terror that still lived in her heart. She knew that all wounds needed time to heal, but some took longer than others.

Using her crutches all the time was hard, but Rachel finally made it to the first glee club rehearsal of the year, trailing in behind the others. Mr. Schue pulled her in for a big hug with his good arm, and she couldn't keep her eyes off of the sling he wore over his damaged shoulder, the one that Dustin had turned into hamburger meat. It was just another reminder of how badly she'd messed things up, and she vowed to keep her promise to Finn and welcome the newbies instead of chasing them away.

Right before their meeting was over, a young girl, probably a freshman, walked into the choir room with a small tap on the door. She looked painfully shy as she twirled her blonde hair in her hands and addressed Mr. Schue without making eye contact with the rest of the club.

"Hello, my name is Anna and I wanted to know if I could audition for glee club?" Before Mr. Schue could answer her, Rachel shot out of her seat with her crutches in hand and immediately approached the younger girl who stared at her with eyes as wide as saucers.

"Of course you may audition, young one! My name is Rachel Berry, the captain and female lead of this club and I welcome you with open arms. Well, if I could open my arms I would but these crutches are in the way you see. . ."

"So I can try out?" She asked meekly while Rachel beamed.

"Absolutely. May I ask you one question though?"

The young freshman shrugged her shoulders. "Sure."

"Have you ever possessed any murderous tendencies or experienced a mental breakdown that could possibly endanger the lives of the other members of this club?" She could see the other gleeks, including Mr. Schue, sigh and facepalm dramatically while the blonde stared at Rachel like she was nuts.

"Um, no."

"Then welcome to New Directions!" She said exuberantly, nudging the girl forward to join the group. She smiled brightly and the rest of the glee clubbers moved forward to introduce themselves. Mr. Schue gave Rachel a thumbs up while Finn pulled her in for a deep kiss, lingering there for a moment and making her feel like the world was floating away.

"Good job," he whispered in her ear, nuzzling her softly. She inhaled the scent of him and relaxed into his embrace, knowing that the only safe place for her in this world was right here in Finn's arms. They stood like that for a while and could hear the new girl, Anna, mingling with the other members and talking about solos. They watched her, amused, as Tina and Mike explained to her about competitions and their track record.

"You mean I could actually be a lead one day? I would _kill_ to sing my own solo!" The entire room froze deadly still, glaring at Anna while her face turned red from embarrassment. Finn and Rachel exchanged a knowing look while the girl in question squirmed under the unwanted attention. It was going to be a long rehearsal, as the girl in question kept playing with her hair, completely oblivious.

"Was it something I said?"

**THE END**

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><p>Until next time, sings, Don't Stop <em>Reviewing!<em>

Merci mille fois, mes amis!


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